I'm Only Me When I'm With You
by Confetti Leaves
Summary: Living in this crazy world, people hide behind the facade they built. But that all changes when you realize the one person who drives you crazy half the time is the only person with whom you can truly be yourself. Co-written with ArwenLalaith.
1. Buffy and Leftover Pizza

_Chapter 1_

"Morgan, are you sure this is okay?" Emily asked, uncertain if the arrangement would work.

"Yes, I'm sure," he sighed, assuring her. "Besides if you don't come with me what are you going to do for two weeks? Watch 'Buffy' re-runs?"

Things had been crazy back at Quantico. They had been working for months without any decent breaks in between; it was as if there had been a sudden increase of psychotic killers and they had decided that they would terrorize the different states one after another. Thankfully, Strauss had grown a heart, and gave the team two weeks of vacation.

Hotch was going to take Jack to Disneyland, finally fulfilling his promise. JJ and Will are taking Henry back to her parents' place. Rossi said he was going to take Mudgie hunting. Garcia was going to spend her time with Kevin. Austin is in town and Reid is going show her around. Morgan was going back to Chicago to visit his family. But Emily has nowhere to go, so Morgan had invited her to go back to Chicago with him.

Emily was hesitant about going back to Chicago with him, she didn't want to intrude. "No..." she lied, that was exactly what she was going to do. She paused to think of something else, "I could --"

Cutting her off, Morgan said, "Reading 'Mother Night' for the hundredth time and eating leftover pizza is not the way to enjoy your vacation."

"Fine," she sighed. He smiled, picking up her suitcase and heading towards the ticket counter. She raised an eyebrow at the unexpected chivalry.

"What? I'm a gentleman, you know."

She gave an unladylike snort of laughter, "Sure you are…" she teased.

******

Stepping into an empty house, Morgan sighed, "I told them I was going to come home but there is no one to welcome me back..."

"What were you expecting? A royal ball for your highness?" Emily teased. She looked around and smiled. This feels like home, photo frames covering the walls, the sweet aroma of freshly baked cookies in the air, and the little curios on the shelf.

"I like her," Sarah declared smiling, coming down from the stairs with Desiree. "Welcome home, brother. We're here but there's no royal ball for you."

"Hi Sarah," he smiled and hugged them, "Desiree." His smile widened when he saw his mother.

They exchanged a hug, "Hello honey," his mother smiled. Emily stepped back and watched the happy reunion, but felt a small ache inside her heart, knowing that her own mother would never be this glad to see her.

"Guys, this is Emily," he introduced.

"Agent Prentiss. We met when…" Emily trailed off.

"It's nice to see you again," Mrs. Morgan said, pulling Emily into a hug.

"You too," Emily agreed.

"Go put your bags in your room," Mrs. Morgan instructed, they nodded and proceeded up the stairs.

"Hey Emily," Sarah called, "When you're done come down, we can show you pictures of Derek when he was kid."

Morgan's face paled when he heard that, "Sarah!"

Ignoring him, Desiree continued, "Did he ever tell you that he was really short?"

"No, not really," Emily laughed and turned to Morgan, "I can't wait to see the pictures."

"I should have left you at home with 'Buffy' and leftover pizzas," he frowned.

She chortled, "Too late now."


	2. Things That Change You

_Chapter 2_

Emily quietly stood in the doorway of the youth centre, taking care not to do anything to alert Morgan to her presence. She leaned against the door frame watching as he studied the far wall, lined with photographs of children smiling out of the depths of time. She wondered where those children were today, what they had grown up to become.

Then she focused on one photo in particular and didn't know whether to smile or cry; she might have imagined it, but she thought she could see a deep sadness in the eyes of the young football player. She wondered how many of the other children had suffered what he had gone through, how many had grown up to be what they did because of it, how many in spite.

After another minute of silence, without even turning around, Morgan asked, "How did you know I'd be here?" His voice was hushed, barely above a whisper, as if their surroundings somehow demanded silence, like a church or a mausoleum.

When she had woken up that morning, having relished the chance to finally sleep in, Morgan was already gone. He had left a note under the door saying that he hadn't wanted to wake her and that he would be gone for a few hours, with a short post-script demanding (more like pleading) that she not look at any more photo albums.

Mildly surprised that he had known she was there, she shrugged and said, "Just had a feeling." She made no move to step further inside the room. "How did you know I was watching you?"

Mimicking her, he shrugged and said, "Just had a feeling." She rolled her eyes and gave a sarcastic laugh. "I saw your reflection in the window," he explained.

She was silent for a minute, her gaze becoming distant and pensive, before she quietly asked, "Do you think you'd be the same person today if Buford hadn't..." Her voice trailed off, unable to bring herself to say the words.

He finally turned around and studied her for a moment as if searching for some kind of answer. At length, he sighed heavily and answered simply, "Probably not... some things just change you."

She knew there was probably more of an answer buried within, but was almost afraid to press him further. After another minute of silently testing the waters, she crossed the room and gently pulled him into a hug, reassuring him the only way she could. "You know, you look exactly the same as you did all those years ago," she said, referring to his photograph.

"You mean I was just as drop-dead gorgeous then as I am now?"

"Sure," she answered, thinking that he could probably use an ego boost right about now.

He let another moment of silence pass before piping up, "I'll bet there's some kids outside looking for a good game of football, want to watch?"

She smiled challengingly, "I want to play, you could use a good ass kicking."

"Oh, you're on!"

******

When they walked in the front door later, spattered head to toe with mud from the impromptu football game, Mrs. Morgan stopped them before they could take more than two steps into the house.

"You're not walking across my nice, clean floors like that," she scolded, "Go back outside and clean off."

"But..." Morgan started to interject.

She quickly stopped him, "I will not have you tracking mud through the house. I thought you'd outgrown the need to come home dirty everyday..."

"We were playing football," he explained, "How were we supposed to not get dirty? I swear, there's a rule..."

His mother rolled her eyes, "What are you, eleven?"

"Yeah, Morgan," Emily teased, "Act your age, not your shoe size!" She was already obediently hosing down her muddy legs.

"Trying to make me look bad?" he asked her pointedly.

"Yeah," she retorted simply, raising an eyebrow impishly, "What are you going to do about it?"

He narrowed his eyes, "That's it, give me the hose."

"No."

"Give it."

"No." And with that, she turned the hose on him and cackled evilly.

"Oh, that's it..." he started to threaten.

She cut him off, "Are you sure you want to go down this road again? Because you already got your ass handed to you on a platter by a girl once today. Are you sure you can handle another bruise to your ego?"

He glared at her before smiling triumphantly and playing his trump card, "Mom! She's being mean to me!"

Emily laughed, "Oh, you did not just play the 'mom card'!"

His mother smiled, "I'm kinda with her on this one..."

"Ha ha!" she teased, but in letting her guard down a bit, she loosened her grip on the hose and he was able to snatch it from her grasp.

"You're gonna regret that!" She gave a shriek as the water hit her and she sprinted away.

Sarah joined Mrs. Morgan in the doorway and smiled as her brother chased Emily down the sidewalk. "I like her," she repeated yesterday's sentiment.

"Me too..."


	3. What's Better than Cookies and Sunsets?

_Chapter 3_

"You want me to help?" Emily asked, uncertainty in her voice.

"Yes," Mrs. Morgan replied, clearly curious as to why that seemed such a difficult concept to grasp, "What's wrong?"

A flush of embarrassment crept to her cheeks as she reluctantly admitted, "I... I can't cook."

She smiled warmly, fine lines appearing around her eyes like star bursts. "I'll teach you. It's easy," she placated, attempting to put Emily at ease, "Start by creaming the butter and sugar." Emily's expression of confusion clearly indicated that the instruction had gone straight over her head. "On second thought, I'll do that. Why don't you just mix all the dry ingredients in a bowl."

Emily smiled and nodded; that seemed like a task that she could handle. She carefully read the recipe three times over, determined to get it exactly right and not let Mrs. Morgan down after she had so blindly, and probably foolishly, put her faith in her non-existent cooking abilities. "Salt in cookies?" she asked skeptically, crinkling her nose.

"Just a pinch of it," she explained, "Like this." She shook a small amount into the palm of her hand and then brushed it off into the bowl. "It balances out the flavor. You won't even know it's there. Once you're done with that you can add the eggs and vanilla, and mix it until it forms a dough."

Emily looked at the mixer and back to her teacher nervously, "That mixer?" Not that she had never seen a mix master before, she'd just never actually gone through the process of actually using one. And now that she was faced with the actuality, it was starting to seem like a really bad idea.

"There is a first time for everything dear," she encouraged. Emily attempted to smiled anxiously. "Besides, you can't possibly be worse than my son."

She tentatively started the mixer, wincing as if expecting to be struck. There was a slight kick-back and a cloud of flour erupted from the bowl, coating the nearby surfaces with a fine white dust. Coughing and attempting to wave the gritty air away from her face, she smiled apologetically.

"Don't worry, that isn't nearly the worst thing that's ever happened in my kitchen," Mrs. Morgan comforted, laughter on her voice.

Her curiosity got the better of her, "What did Derek do?"

"That boy," she sighed, "I love him, but there is no way he's using my kitchen ever again."

******

"So, why didn't you go visit your mother?" Mrs. Morgan asked as she put the cookie sheet into the oven.

Emily winced unconsciously, not expecting to get hit with that question so soon. "I don't know where my mother is."

"How come?"

"She's a foreign ambassador and she travels a lot," Emily replied ruefully. "I haven't seen her for almost a year, I think."

"Not even for Christmas?" She seemed genuinely shocked and saddened.

"No."

"I'm sorry dear, but you are always welcome here," she smiled and put an arm around her.

Emily smiled widely and nodded, "Thank you."

******

The sweet aroma of cookies lured Morgan from the living room to the kitchen. He stopped at the threshold and smiled at the scene before him; his mother and best friend bonding. The two women were laughing, but he couldn't hear what they were talking about. Finally, the smell of cookies in the air became so strong that he couldn't take it anymore.

He made his way towards them and reached out to grab a cookie off the still hot pan. "Hey!" he yelped when Emily smacked his hand away. "Mom! She hit me!"

"If you didn't try to steal a cookie, I wouldn't have to resort to violence," she reasoned.

"I'm on her side," Mrs. Morgan smiled.

He sighed and pouted, "You come over and my family turns against me."

"What can I say?" Emily grinned, "I'm too lovable."

"Yeah right," Morgan rolled his eyes. "So, what were you ladies talking about before I came in?" he asked after realizing that there was no way they would let him have cookies before dinner.

"Oh, your mother told me a story," Emily shrugged, trying not to burst out laughing, "Someone baked a cake and invited the fire department to come enjoy it..."

"Mom!"

"What?"

"She's going to use that against me now!"

"Good," Mrs. Morgan replied simply, "You need someone who can control you." She looked at the clock and pushed the two of them out of the kitchen, "Why don't you two go do something while I make dinner?"

******

Morgan and Emily sat at the park, quietly watching the sun set, bathing the land in its magnificent red glow. He looked to his right, at the brunette beside him. He has seen Emily in many ways, enraged, frustrated, tired, happy and even relaxed. But he had never seen her like this, so completely at peace, an almost child-like smile on her face, a twinkle in her eyes, at ease with everything around her.

"Morgan," she said quietly, careful not to disturb the peace. "Thank you."

"For what?" he whispered back.

"For inviting me here," she replied. "It would have been a boring two weeks if you hadn't insisted that I come here with you."

"That's what friends are for," he smiled and pulled her close. After a moment of silence, he spoke up, "I didn't know you liked sunsets."

She smiled widely, "I love sunsets. Wish I could watch it everyday."

"If you like, we can come here again tomorrow," he offered.

"Really?" her eyes sparkled with joy like a child on Christmas morning.

"Yeah," he promised.

Emily must have realized how silly she looked and quickly turned away, "Sorry."

"Hey," he said softly, pulling her closer, "There is nothing to be sorry about."

"But I acted like a kid in a toy store."

"So? It's not wrong to get excited over something you like. Besides, you looked kind of cute..."

She blushed lightly, "Thanks."

They settled back into a comfortable silence, quietly watching the sunset, listening to the crickets sing.

"Hey Em?" Morgan broke the silence after a few minutes, "Do me a favor?"

"Sure, what is it?"

"Don't tell anyone about the birthday cake incident..." he added a quiet "Please?" as an afterthought.

Emily looked at him and thought, _'Who could resist that heart stopping smile and that sad puppy dog eyes?'_ She nodded, "I won't say a thing."

"Thank you," he let out a sigh of relief. "I can't imagine Reid using that against me..."

She laughed and nudged him with her shoulder, "Suddenly you're scared of genius boy?"

"I'm not scared," she looked at him skeptically. "Fine," he relented, "I'm a little scared. Don't tell him that either."

"Fine, mum's the word."

"I knew I could trust you." His stomach growled loudly and Emily laughed again. "Hey, no laughing!" he scowled, "You wouldn't let me have the cookies."

Her hands shot up in mock surrender, "Okay, wanna go back?"

He helped her up and grinned, "Race you back?"

"What are you, five?"

"Last one at the table has to do the dishes!" he called, before taking of in a sprint.

"That's not fair!" she grumbled and dashed after him. "Oh, I'm gonna kill him!"


	4. In Exchange for Cookies

_Chapter 4_

"Have fun doing the dishes," Morgan teased, hanging Emily his plate.

"Real nice way to treat your guest," Sarah chided, smacking him up the back of his head.

"What? It's not my fault! She knew the rules, she lost the race..." he shrugged, "Nothing I could do about it."

Emily rolled her eyes. "I don't mind helping clean up, it's the least I can do after such a wonderful meal."

"Maybe you could give Derek a refresher course in manners," Sarah said, giving her brother a pointed glare.

"What's with this turning my family against me?" he said to Emily.

"Oh, we were never on your side," Desiree said.

"Fine," he said, "I was going to offer to help, but now you can do the dishes on your own."

"Good, you'd just screw it up anyways."

Emily smiled to herself at the playful sibling rivalry, finding herself almost envious of Morgan's family, never having had a brother or sister or even a warm, loving family atmosphere.

******

Attempting not to wake any of the house's other occupants, Morgan tiptoed into the kitchen, using his hands to blindly feel his way along the walls. The cookies had been calling to him so he had decided to sneak down to the kitchen for a midnight snack. As his hand closed on the doorknob to the pantry, someone purposefully cleared their throat, making him freeze in his tracks.

"Looking for these?" asked the voice from the shadows. In the pale light flooding in through the window he was able to see the Tupperware container of cookies on the table. He crossed the room and turned the dimmer switch just enough to illuminate the immediate surroundings without waking the rest of the house. The faint yellow glow fell upon the kitchen table where his sisters were both looking at him in a rather unsettling way.

"Creepy much?" he said.

"Please, take a seat," Desiree said, gesturing towards the chair directly across from the both of them.

"I just want a cookie..."

"You can have the first one for free..." Sarah said, pushing a single cookie across the tabletop.

"What are the rest gonna cost me?" he asked, eyeing the cookie suspiciously.

"You just have to answer one question."

He groaned, "It is way too early for an interrogation."

"Well then you'd better comply quickly," Desiree said.

"Did you guys watch some cheesy detective movie yesterday?"

"Fine, no cookies for you," Sarah shrugged, snatching away the container of cookies and standing to leave, "Let's go to bed."

"No, no! What do you want to know?" Morgan acquiesced.

"How do you feel about Emily?" Sarah whispered.

"I don't know what you mean," he said, suddenly less interested in the cookies.

"Don't play dumb, you know exactly what we mean," Desiree said, eyes narrowing.

"You know, suddenly I'm not that hungry, I don't think I want the cookies anymore," he said, shifting uncomfortably in his chair.

They both continued to look at him pointedly. "Come on," Sarah wheedled, "You can tell us."

"I..." he stammered, suddenly self-conscious now that he was about to fess up, "I..."

He was interrupted by a thud against the wall and all three turned around sharply to see what had disrupted them. "Oops," Emily giggled, "I ran into the wall... Don't know my way around here."

Pouring herself a glass of water from the tap, she looked at them quizzically and asked, "What are you guys doing?"

"Midnight snack," Sarah quickly supplied, gesturing towards the cookies.

Emily smiled brightly at the implication that her cookies were good or at least edible. Finishing the glass of water, she bade everyone goodnight before stumbling back to her room.

"Goodnight Em," Morgan said quietly, his eyes remained fixed on the doorway long after she had gone.

"You love her!" Sarah gasped in realization.

Morgan turned to look at her, eyes the size of saucers, pure alarm on his face. "Shh!" he hissed, eyes darting back to the doorway as if afraid that she might have heard, "I do not."

"Don't lie," Desiree scolded, "You totally do. It's so obvious."

He glared at the two of them for a moment, while the smiled smugly back, seeming quite pleased with themselves. "You can't say anything," he pleaded, sighing, "I don't want to scare her... I can't lose her."


	5. Blackmailed

** A big "THANK YOU!" to all who have read, reviewed, alerted, and even added this story to their favorites! Your reviews means a lot to us.  
**

_Chapter 5_

"Hey Derek," Sarah called to him with a cheeky grin on her face, "You're going shopping with us, right?"

"Really?" he replied cautiously, taking note of the mischievous grin on his sister's face. _This cannot be good..._

Desiree caught up on Sarah's plan and chimed in, "You promised us last night, while we were having our cookies. _Remember?_"

"That's what you guys were talking about last night?" Emily asked curiously.

"Oh yeah... they wouldn't let me have the cookies unless I agree to take you guys shopping today."

"Those cookies must be better that I expected," Emily responded, "You hate shopping."

"Yeah," he glared at his sisters who grinned triumphantly in return, "They are just that good."

******

"Come on," Morgan whined, his arms aching under the weight of the many shopping bags he had to carry, "You've been shopping for three hours! What's there left to buy?"

"Oh, don't be such a big baby," Desiree rolled her eyes.

"Here, let me help," Emily offered, taking a couple of bags from him.

"Thanks."

They continued walking in comfortable silence for a while before Emily's curiosity got the better of her. "So, what happened last night?"

"What?"

"Come on, Derek," she nudged him, "You came shopping with us because you wanted cookies? That's all?"

"Yes, they blackmailed me with cookies," he once again glared at his sisters; if looks could kill, they would be dead thousand times over.

She frowned, finding this whole incident very unlikely. Morgan is not the kind of guy who gave in easily, there must be something more to this. "Just for those cookies? You can get better ones outside..." she probed.

"That's true," he whispered, looking at her, "But they are not the ones I want..."

At this point Emily wasn't sure if they are still talking about snacks, but before she could question him further, Morgan groaned. She looked up and saw his sisters entering another shop in the mall. "Did you do something to them when you were young?"

"No, this is just part of sibling rivalry..."

******

The dark living room had an eerie glow, cast by the flickering of the TV set and Emily knew exactly who was struggling to be overtaken by sleep. "Hey," she said softly, careful not to startle him.

Morgan turned and smiled when he saw Emily, "Hey. What are you doing up?"

"Can't sleep," she responded simply, sitting down beside him.

"What's bothering you?"

Emily looked at him for a moment and wondered if he could read her mind, "You."

"Me?" he grinned, "I never thought that there would be a day when Emily Prentiss loses her beauty sleep over me. What about me?"

"You went shopping with us, did the dishes after dinner when Sarah was the one who was supposed to do it and sat through four hours of chick flicks..."

"So?"

"So?" she looked at him incredulously, "So, it has to be more than just about cookies last night! What aren't you telling me?"

He smiled softly, his heart warmed by the fact that she is so concerned about him. "If I didn't know better, from all the concern you're showing, I'd think you're my girlfriend." _If only..._

"Oh," she blushed furiously and was immediately grateful that the room was dark so Morgan couldn't see her blushing. "I'm sorry..."

He turned to face her, putting both his hands on her shoulders, "I promise I'll tell you what happened last night, just not now okay?"

Even with the dim lighting, she could see his eyes; there was something in them, something that made her heart pound, something she couldn't quite define. "Okay." It took all her discipline to not lean in and kiss him senseless. "I should go back to bed," it sounded more like a question than a statement.

"Or you could stay and watch 'James Bond' with me," he suggested. "I could use the company."

******

Several hours later, Morgan and Emily found themselves sprawled out on the couch, he had his arms around her, with her head resting on his chest. On the TV, the credits were rolling.

"It's finished," she whispered sleepily, only to get an incoherent groan from him.

His eyes were closed and he looked so peaceful. She studied his face for a moment, his strong features softened by the flickering light, but still he looked so handsome. She stayed still for a moment, trying to decide whether to get up and return to her bed or remain where she was, but before she could make up her mind, she felt Morgan's arms tighten slightly around her. Leaning in, she pressed a gentle kiss on his cheek before settling back into his warm embrace. Emily didn't know what possessed her to do what she did, but she didn't care. At that instant, that was what her heart told her to do.

******

Morgan began to stir when the sunshine flooding in through the window became too bright to ignore. He blinked a couple of times to focus and smiled widely when he found Emily sleeping soundly on his chest. He had lost count of how many times he had dreamed of holding her close while they slept; in a way, this was a dream come true. His own stirring caused her to wake as well. "Good morning, Sleeping Beauty."

"Huh?" It took her a second to process her surroundings. Blinking sleepily, she returned his greeting, "Morning."

They remained like that for a while, neither of them willing to move away from each other. "Looks like we fell asleep," Morgan stated.

"Thank you Capitan Obvious!" Emily giggled but quickly stop her stomach growled loudly.

"Hungry?" he smirked.

"You really live up to your name don't you?"

"Fine," he relented. "Want pancakes?"

"Are you making them?" she asked teasingly.

"No, there's a nice little café round the corner that serves excellent pancakes and coffee," he answered. "If you're nice to me, I'll take you there."

"If you don't take me there, I could tell Reid what you did to your mom's kitchen. Or maybe Garcia too," she threatened, "Then you know that it won't stay secret..."

"Fine, get changed and let's go," he grumbled.


	6. Ferris Wheels are the Worst

_Chapter 6_

They walked back towards the house amid chill morning air and amiable silence. Emily skipped across a hopscotch grid drawn in chalk on the side walk by some child. Morgan mimicked her actions, groaning slightly as he reached the end, "I think I ate too much syrup."

Emily laughed, "Ate? More like inhaled an entire bottle's worth."

"Ha ha," he rolled his eyes, "You think you're so funny..."

"I really do," she said, pleased with herself. "So, what are we going to do today, once you sleep off your sugar crash?"

He shrugged, "Probably whatever the wicked witches blackmail me into doing with them..."

Emily smiled mischievously, "Or you could just tell me what happened and then they couldn't blackmail you..." She knew he wasn't going to tell her, which was made clear by his _'yeah, right' _expression. "Or we could just disappear for the day..."

"What?"

"Well, they can't force you to do anything if you just aren't there..."

He laughed, "Well, I kinda came down here to spend time with them..."

"You've got two weeks, they won't miss you for a day," she persuaded.

"I do believe you're a bad influence on me..."

"Come on," she pouted, "I want to tour the city and I need a tour guide. Who better to show me around than someone who was born and raised here."

He looked at her suspiciously, "Didn't you work here for several years?"

She was silent for a moment, working out how to get out of the corner she had backed herself into. "That's beside the point," she huffed. Then, to embellish her point, she broke out her best puppy-dog eyes.

"Alright, I guess I could do that," he sighed, "On one condition: no shopping."

"Deal," she agreed enthusiastically.

******

"You're taking me on a what?" Emily asked, despite having heard him correctly the first time. The look on her face was pure horror.

"Ferris wheel," he said slowly, drawing out each syllable to a point of obnoxious exaggeration.

"No, I'm not going up there."

"Why not? You asked me to take you somewhere nice..."

"And of all places you had to pick the ferris wheel? Isn't there anything else nice?"

"You get the bird's-eye view of Chicago from here," he narrowed his eyes, "Are you afraid of ferris wheels?"

"No..." she lied. Morgan remained silent, raising a skeptical eyebrow and staring at Emily. "I just don't like them."

"You'll like this one," he told her confidently.

"No, I won't."

"You won't know until you try..."

"I don't _want _to try!" she stubbornly refused to get on the ride. "I'm afraid of heights," she blurted out.

"But you told me you love roller coasters," he said, confused. How could a ferris wheel be worse than a roller coaster.

"Because they move so fast," she explained, "And you're too busy screaming to take note of anything going on around you."

He laughed at her logic, "Which makes ferris wheels the most frightening ride in the world."

"It's not funny!" she swatted his shoulder and sighed, "I got stuck on a ferris wheel when I was a kid. It short-circuited and the motor caught fire and it was in a country where they didn't even speak English so I had no idea what was happening!"

"And you were stuck up there for hours," he said softly, suddenly feeling bad that he had laughed at her irrational fear.

"Yeah."

"I'm sorry," he pulled her into his arms and rubbed her back soothingly, "I promise I'll be there with you the whole time. And it won't break down this time." Sensing that she was still hesitating, he said, "If we get stuck this time, I'll take you out shopping and you can tell Reid about the birthday cake disaster..."

"Promise?"

"Absolutely." He hoped he wasn't about to regret that.

"Cross your heart and hope to die?"

"Okay," he gave a fake laugh, "Let's not tempt the fates."

By the time they were locked into the seat, before they'd even left the ground, she was already white-knuckling the safety bar. Without saying a word, he reached over and pried her hand loose from the bar and intertwined their fingers. Abruptly, she pulled her frightened, glassy eyes away from the land and looked down at their hands. Then, she snapped her gaze up to look him in the eye with silent thanks. And as she moved closer, shielding her eyes against he shoulder when they reached the very top, it killed him to hold her so close and not be able to do anything about it.

******

"See, it wasn't that bad..." he smiled as they reached the ground.

She shrugged, "Yeah. It was kind of pretty..."

"So where to next?" he asked.

"How about lunch first then anywhere without ferris wheels?"

He grinned, "I've got an idea." With their hands still intertwined, they made their way to the next destination.


	7. It's a Family Affair

_Chapter 7_

"Where did you get this beauty?" It was beautiful. Emily's eyes immediately went to the object the moment she stepped out of the restaurant. She slowly circled around the motorcycle, taking it in. "This is so cool."

"Rental," he smiled, watching her eyes sparkle with excitement, "What better way to tour a city than on a bike."

"I didn't know you ride bikes."

"Used to," he shrugged, "Before I went off to college. I like the feel of the wind."

"In your hair?" she teased.

"I knew this was a bad idea," he sighed and started the bike, "I'm going to return it."

"No!" She grabbed his arm and worked up her sweetest face, "I promise I'll be nice to you."

He smirked and repeated her earlier statement, "Cross your heart and hope to die?"

"So childish," she commented, rolling her eyes.

Before she could climb on the bike, he stopped her, "Safety first," he said, pulling out a helmet. "And you get the goofy looking one."

As he fastened the strap for her, Emily couldn't help but smile at the intimate gesture. She had seen this in movies, but she never thought he would do something like that for her. "I look cute," she insisted.

"Whatever you say," he teased, "Come on, we have a city to tour."

******

Driving down the highway, dodging between cars, Emily revelled in just how good it felt to be on the bike with him. Her arms were wrapped firmly around his midsection and he smelled wonderful. If this was the closest she could get to him, she was going to enjoy every second of it. Wrapping her arms tighter around his waist, she rested her head on his broad shoulders and sighed happily.

The excitement of speeding down the highway, the feel of wind of on his face and the passing of cars were all forgotten the second Morgan felt Emily's arms tightening around his waist. She always had that effect on him. Whenever she was around, everything else seemed to lose it's colour. And he could only watch her and pray to God that no one would catch him doing it. He had to tell her. Or at least find out how she felt about him. Because being 'just friends' with her, just wasn't good enough anymore.

******

"Wow!" Emily breathed as she got off the bike. "That was a lot of fun. Thank you. I haven't been on a bike since forever."

"I had fun too," he said with a smile. They stood in silence for several minutes, taking in the view from their destination, enjoying the works of mother nature and the comfortable silence between them. "What do you think of me?" he suddenly spoke up.

"What?" Emily asked, unsure if she heard him correctly.

"What do you think of me?" he repeated.

"You like people to think of you as the tough guy but behind that facade, you're just a sweet little boy," she answered as if it were the easiest thing in the world, "You love your family and your friends. Even if you tend to drive me insane, I still like hanging out with you. You're actually one of the few people I feel comfortable around."

"Really?"

"Yeah," she grinned when she caught him blushing a little. "Why?"

"I don't know," he lied, "Guess I could use just an ego boost after those witches blackmailed me with my love of cookies and treated me like a slave..." _And because I needed to know how you feel about me?_ He sighed, like he could ever tell her that.

"Did it work?"

"Yes, thank you," he said, wrapping her in an embrace which she relaxed into. They remained still for a while longer, enjoying the feel of being in each other's arms before they moved on to their next destination.

******

"Thanks," Emily smiled as she stood at the doorway of her room, "I had fun today."

"I had fun too." They stood in silence for a moment, reluctant to let the day end. "So, good night."

"Good night," she replied unwillingly. Morgan began to make his way to his room when she grabbed his wrist. He raised a brow and she smiled shyly, "You up for another movie tonight?"

"You're not tired?" he smiled, hope evident in his voice.

"Not really," she shook her head, "So, what do you say?"

"I'd love that."

"I'll quickly take a shower and meet you downstairs?"

"Sure," he replied, smiling. The second Emily shut the bathroom door, Sarah and Desiree stepped out of their own bedrooms.

"We've been waiting for you," Sarah said, crossing her arms. Before he could say anything, they dragged him down to the living room. "So, have you told her yet?"

"Told her what?"

"God Derek!" Desiree scoffed, staring at him in disbelief, "You spent an entire day with her and you can't find a spare minute to tell her that you love her!"

"Shh!" his eyes darted up the stairs, grateful that Emily was still in the shower. "I can't tell her yet. I told you I don't want to scare her. And stop meddling in my love life!"

"We just want you to be happy Derek," Sarah sighed, "And it's so obvious that Emily makes you very happy."

"I know you guys care about me and I appreciate it, but I'm a grown man now, I think I take care of myself," he said softly, "If you want me to be happy, just promise me two things."

"What is it?" Desiree asked.

"You can't tell anyone, especially not Emily."

"Done," they agreed. "What's next?"

"Don't blackmail me with this again."

Sarah and Desiree looked at each other and smiled, "Like that's ever gonna happen."

"Worth a shot," he shrugged and they laughed. Before they could made their way back to their rooms, Morgan wrapped his arms around them, "Thanks guys."

"If you want to thank us, please go take a shower," Desiree said, pushing him off, "You stink."

Rolling his eyes, they made their way back towards the stairs, only to find their mother waiting for them there, with a smile so wide, you'd think her face would split in two. "Mom!" Morgan feigned a smile, "How long have you been standing here?"

"Long enough to know that you're in love with Emily!" she said happily, "My baby is finally ready to settle down with a nice girl!"

He glared at his sisters. "Hey, don't look at us, we didn't tell her anything," they shrugged

"Derek, it's not your sisters' fault," she smiled, "I woke up to get some water and heard you kids talking."

"You can't say a word," he said firmly. "I don't want to scare her."

"Alright, loosen up," she responded, "I won't say anything."

"You're the best."

"I'm just going to start planning your wedding!" And with that, Mrs. Morgan went back to her room happily, leaving Sarah and Desiree behind laughing and Morgan groaning.

"Oh, by the way," Desiree giggled, "You know she going to start thinking of names for your kids, right?"

He buried his face in his hands and groaned, "This is just great..."

******

Morgan quickly made his way to the living room after his shower only to find Emily already fast asleep on the couch. He grabbed the blanket off the back of the couch and draped it over her. He stood waveringly for a few seconds, just watching her sleep, debating whether he should let her continue to sleep on the couch or carry her back to her room. Instead of doing either, he sat down next to her and gently pulled her closer to him, letting her head rest on his shoulder. Placing a gentle kiss on the top of her head, he whispered, "I love you, Em."

Almost as if she could hear him from the depths of her dreams, Emily nuzzled closer to him, a contented smile spreading across her beautiful face. He sighed happily as the movie began; not that he actually wanted to watch a movie, but at least it would give him a reason to hold her close again. But only five minutes into the movie, he was slowly closing his eyes as the exhaustion of the day caught up with him.


	8. A Blank Check for Mayhem

_Chapter 8_

Sarah, Desiree, and Mrs. Morgan sat around the kitchen table drinking coffee while the other two 'washed' the breakfast dishes, if you could really call it that. They had to be getting just as much water on themselves as they were on the dishes.

Emily handed Morgan a dish to dry, which he immediately 'accidentally' dropped on the floor, forcing her to wash it over again.

"If they were in grade school, he'd be pulling her hair and pushing her down right about now," Sarah joked.

"He's never going to tell her," Desiree said, shaking her head.

"I bet he will," Sarah retorted.

"I'll take that bet," Desiree replied.

"You're not going to bet on your brother's love life," Mrs. Morgan scolded, "We're just going to have to help him along a little..."

"Mom, you know if he heard you saying that he'd A) die of embarrassment and B) insist that he needs no help..."

"And when has that ever stopped you from meddling before?" she challenged, one eyebrow raised.

"You're right... This is gonna be fun." Both of the younger women smiled smugly; a blank check for mayhem.

******

Morgan glanced at the clock, they had been gone nearly four hours; not that he was complaining, having Emily all to himself. It just would have been better if she weren't currently beating him six ways from Sunday at Scrabble. "Why are we even playing this?" he complained as she played all seven of her tiles to spell 'tongues' and earning herself a good seventy points.

"You mean you _don't _enjoy losing?" she teased.

He gave her a playful glare, but decided not to dignify that jibe with a response, instead changing the subject, "I'm starving."

For several seconds, she tried to think of another clever joke at his expense, but eventually relented, agreeing, "Me too."

"I'm guessing they aren't going to be home in time for dinner," he said, "Did you just want to order something?"

She waved her hand dismissively and said, "Let's try cooking for ourselves." He looked at her incredulously for a minute before she added, "Take your turn."

He glanced once at his letters, consisting almost solely of vowels and an 'x'; he shook his head, he had already lost. Returning to the original topic of conversation, he reminded, "Emily, come on, let's face the facts. Neither one of us is a very good cook independent of strict instruction from a cooking professional or military precise directions on the side of a box..."

"Nonsense," she said airily, "We can figure it out. We've both cooked before, we know how to read a cookbook, how hard can it be?"

"Did you forget the cake flambe incident?" he scoffed, "One parental-assisted cooking attempt does not a master chef make."

"Fine," she shrugged, "If you want to go running to mommy every time you want a home-cooked meal..."

"No!" he quickly interrupted, "I'm just saying that... It's not that I... I just think..." She smiled as he struggled to string three words together in an intelligent manner. "Fine," he relented, "But _you'll _be the one who has to explain to my mother when she returns home to find her kitchen on fire, despite the fact that I am under _very_ clear orders never to use her kitchen again without supervision..."

******

"What's burning?" Emily asked suddenly, looking up sharply from where she was chopping vegetables for salad.

"What?"

"Something's burning," she repeated, "Can't you smell it?"

"But I haven't put anything on the stove yet."

"You turned the burner on to boil the water," she reminded.

He turned to look at the stove and started panicking. "Oh crap..."

"What did you do?"

"Nothing," he said dismissively. It was a lie and she knew it, seeing as he had pulled on a pair of ovenmitts and was warily attempting to pick up one of the metal burner covers. "Could you please open the door for me?" he asked, holding the burner cover as far away from himself as possible.

She did as he asked and watched as he set the metal plate down on the patio table, looking as if it might explode at any second. Once he was back inside, she looked at him with a raised eyebrow. "What did you do?"

"Nothing," he repeated, "Certainly not turn on the wrong burner and melt the metal burner cover to the element..."

She tried not to burst out laughing, looking from him to the stove. "Your mom is going to _kill _you..."

"Not if I tell her _you _did it..."

She looked at him with wide eyes, "You wouldn't dare..."

"Oh, wouldn't I?"

She glared at him. "You can't."

"Maybe if you _convinced _me..." He raised an eyebrow suggestively.

She gave him a _'yeah, right...' _looked and punched him in the arm. "Or I could just ask your sisters to tell me what the big secret is..."

She smiled triumphantly as he froze. "Now _you're_ blackmailing me with this? And you don't even know what it is..."

She smiled and laughed, "Have fun explaining this to your mom."

He couldn't help but shake his head and smile; this was what he loved about her... at least part of it.


	9. Unspoken Desires

_Chapter 9_

His body was smooth, the skin taut, and a damp sheen of sweat coated his upper body; she wondered idly if the salty taste of it would be bitter or sweet. She couldn't pinpoint exactly when she started thinking about him like this; when friendship and respect had turned to unspoken desire. She didn't used to see him as anything other than a friend – perhaps her only real friend in Quantico. She never thought that his deep chocolate eyes would ever make her heart race like this.

They were painting his house, one of the four properties he owned, and the rise and fall of his arms was hypnotic. Tiny flecks of light blue paint adorned his upper body, making his already muscular chest stand out even more. As she watched his hands flex on the grip of the roller, she imagined those blunt fingers touching her and her own lips pressing kisses down his chest. She shivered slightly at the thought.

_'Stop it!'_ She mentally berated herself for acting like sixteen year old girl with raging hormones. _'You're killing yourself!'_

"Hey Em, you okay?"

His voice snapped her back to reality and when she looked up, he was standing close to her, his chest mere centimetres her face. She quickly turned away and looked at anything but him.

"Your face's all flushed."

_Shit._ She feigned a smile and fanned herself with her hands. "It's just really hot in here." _In more ways than one..._

"Yeah, it is," he agreed, grabbing his discarded shirt from the floor, absently rubbing it across his chest and neck. "I'm sorry, I haven't fixed up the air conditioning yet."

"It's alright," she smiled, grabbing a cold beer from the cooler, "At least you brought this." Handing him a bottle, she quickly averted her eyes from his body again before those raging hormones could put more ideas in her head. "So, are we almost done?"

"Yeah, we are," he smiled, looking around, obviously pleased with their work. "We have to let it dry and put on one last coat."

"You seem to know a lot about painting."

"I worked as a house painter in the summer to raise some extra cash when I was in school," he shrugged, "What about you? Paint much?"

"Once in a while, when we don't have to work," she grinned, "I paint my nails."

Morgan laughed and picked up her hands, "Your hands are already a piece of art of you ask me." With that, he sat down in the middle of the empty room and pulled her down with him.

"Just my hands?" she asked shyly.

"Would it make you feel better if I said your hands are part of a whole beautiful masterpiece?"

"Much," she replied, smiling. They rested in silence, staring at the celling, listening to the laughter of the neighbours' children until her curiosity got the better of her. "What are you planning to do with this house? Renting it?"

"No," he shook his head. "I'm not renting or selling this place ever."

"Why not?"

"This is where I want to live in the future." Seeing the slightly confused look on her face, he explained, keeping his eyes on hers, "When I marry the woman I love and when we have kids, I think I would want to come back to Chicago and live here. I want my mom to be able to see her grandchildren whenever she wants to."

Emily felt like she had taken a football tackle, all the air vacating her lungs, at the thought of Morgan being with anyone but her. She had to bite her lip to prevent herself from blurting out the fact that she was very much in love with him and didn't want him to be with any woman but her.

"That's nice," she said softly after she regained the ability to speak, "Have you found that lucky girl yet?"

_Yes, and she's right in front of me._ Instead of saying that, he changed the topic, "What's with all the questions today?"

She shrugged, "Just curious."

******

Emily had been lying awake for hours, tossing and turning, the day's events running through her mind. Mainly the part where Morgan had told her that he wants to settle down and have kids. And it bothered her greatly that he might start a family with anyone but her; it hadn't escaped her that he had avoided answering her question as to whether he had found 'the one'. But it wasn't like she could tell him how she felt, he might not feel the same way and she would make things awkward between them. They would be so uncomfortable with each other that they wouldn't even be able to be in the same room together and she would end up losing her best friend. Letting out a frustrated sigh, she got up from her bed and made her way to the kitchen. Maybe some warm milk would help her sleep, assuming she managed not to burn down the house while attempting to heat it.

"Emily?" She jumped at the sound of the voice. "I'm sorry dear, I didn't mean to scare you."

"It's alright," she smiled, "Did I wake you?"

"No," Mrs. Morgan smiled warmly, "I just wanted some water. What are you doing up?"

"Oh, I can't sleep. I thought milk would help."

"Here, let me." The older woman took the milk carton from the fridge and as the milk was being warmed, she said, "You know, you're the first girl my son has ever brought home or introduced to us."

"Really?" she asked shyly, overjoyed to know that she was the only girl Morgan had ever brought home to his family.

"Yes," she nodded, "You must be really close to his heart for him to be willing to bring you here." Mrs. Morgan's comment certainly made Emily feel hopeful; maybe there was a chance that she and Morgan could have a future.

"We're really good friends," Emily responded smiling distantly. "I like him a lot," she admitted.

"And I can tell he likes you a lot too." Emily blushed lightly at her comment. Mrs. Morgan handed her a warm glass of milk, gently tucked a stray hair behind her ear, and said, "Finish your milk and go to bed. A woman needs her beauty sleep. Good night, dear."

"Night," she smiled.

Before Mrs. Morgan left Emily alone, she said to her, "By the way, thanks for the new set of burner covers you got me."

"How did you..." she looked from the stove back to the older woman, "We got exactly the same ones..."

"I know my kitchen dear," she smiled, "And will you tell Derek I know he used the kitchen. Surprisingly, he's actually made an improvement from last time..."

Emily laughed, "Right, I'll let him know."


	10. Ridicuously Ironic

**Sorry, for the wait. We wanted to update yesterday but there was a problem with the site. But here it is now. Enjoy! **

_Chapter 10_

Morgan eyed the piece of paper with suspicion. He mentally read off the admittedly long list of items that Sarah had handed him. He looked back up at her to see her grinning smugly. "You really need all of these things to make dinner?" She nodded. "I thought we got groceries just the other day?"

"Obviously we don't have these things, otherwise this would be a pointless task... What did you think I was doing, sending you out on an unnecessary errand just so you'd have to be alone with Emily?"

He narrowed his eyes and replied, "That's exactly what I think you're doing."

"Well, if you knew, then why'd you ask?" Emily joined them in the kitchen at that moment and Sarah said to her, "Why don't you help Derek get the groceries, he'll probably screw it up if he's not supervised."

As they got into the car, Emily casually remarked, "It must be one hell of a secret if you're willing to put up with so much just to keep it that way..."

He smiled wryly and said, "You have no idea..."

******

Morgan looked quizzically at the list in his hand as if attempting to decipher the Da Vinci Code. Emily on the other hand was pushing the cart to build up speed before hopping up on the little ledge on the undercarriage and coasting down the aisle. Morgan turned around to ask her a question, only getting as far as, "Em, what's..." before realizing that she was no longer where he'd left her. Swivelling around, he raised an eyebrow when he saw her several feet away, skidding to a stop. "What are you doing?"

"What does it look like I'm doing?" she challenged.

He shook his head, smiling. "I can't take you anywhere... You're like a five year old."

"I know you are, but what am I?" she quipped, unable to resist.

"So immature..."

"I'm rubber, you're glue..." she started, but he cut her off, cupping a hand over her mouth to silence her.

"Okay, silly girl, how about you help me finish the shopping so we can get out of here before the store closes?"

"But then how could I possibly annoy you?"

"I'm sure you'd find a way..." She gave him a playful shove and he feigned hurt. "Can you grab some apples?" he asked. And as she set the produce in the cart, he remarked, "I don't get why the stores encourage people to bring their own bags to reduce the plastic bags in the landfills, but then wrap fruit individually in plastic..."

Emily laughed, commenting, "Probably for the same reason Abercrombie tries to sell shirts using ads showing models not wearing any..."

He started to laugh and was about to respond to her ironic reasoning when a squeal of recognition startled the both of them. They turned around to see a rather attractive young woman looking intently at Morgan. "Derek Morgan?" she said, "Is that really you?"

It was a second longer before he recognized her. "Penny Rivers?" he stared at her for another second, "It's really you..."

"Yes, it's me," she responded, "You don't look happy to see me."

"No, I just couldn't recognize you." He smiled, "You look great."

She smiled, "Thank you. You still look as handsome as when I last saw you."

He flashed her his thousand watt smile and said, "I know."

"I see you're still just as modest too." Emily cleared her throat to remind them that she was still there. "Penny, this is Emily Prentiss; we work together."

"And how do you two know each other?" Emily asked, despite the fact that she was already sure of the answer.

"We used to date," he said, voice getting quieter with each successive word, finally dissolving into a 'coughing fit' to disguise the last word.

"Of course," Emily said quietly.

"It was a long time ago, before he went off to collage." Turning her attention back to Morgan, Penny said, "Last I heard, you were in the BAU?"

"Yes," he nodded, "I still am. So what are you doing now?"

"I'm a model."

_'What a surprise,'_ Emily thought.

"Interesting," he commented.

"Not as interesting as your job," Penny said, moving closer to Morgan, much to Emily's dismay. "You carry a gun and catch the bad guys, must be exciting."

"Your job's fun; wear nice clothes, travel around the world..." he said, "That's what you always wanted, isn't it?"

Emily felt like punching Penny when she no-so-subtly placed her hand on Morgan's arm. _'__Relax Emily, he's not your boyfriend,' _she thought.

Rather brazenly running her hand over his biceps, Penny said quietly, "It was really nice to see you again and I'd love to catch up more..." The statement was accompanied by a flirtatious wink.

Emily held back a gasp at her boldness, struggling to keep her anger under control. _'Bitch.'_

Morgan smiled politely and backed out of her reach. "As wonderful as that sounds, I've don't have very much time here and I'd just like to spend it with the women that I love."

As Penny walked away, Morgan pulled Emily into a hug, sensing a little spark of jealousy. She murmured against his chest, "You're so good to your family."

He realized then that she didn't know he meant her as well, most of all. "Not just them..." She looked up at him quizzically. "If I spent time with her, I would have less time with you too."

Instantly, that spark of jealousy vanished into thin air and Emily buried her face against his chest, smiling happily.

"Emily, Penny doesn't mean anything to me," he explained, "I mean, we dated for a little while, messed around a bit, but I was never serious about her."

"Why are you telling me this?"

He took a deep breath and gently shifted so he could look into her eyes. "Because I wouldn't want you to think that there's anyone who means as much to me as you..."

Her heart was pounding so hard she could hear the blood rushing past her ears. "What are you saying?" she whispered.

"I'm saying that you mean a lot to me and I would very much like to have you in my life as..." he trailed off, afraid that if he completed the sentence, she would run away.

"As your girlfriend?" she prompted. She had only meant to think that, not wanting to push him or make herself seem desperate, but the words were already out of her mouth before she could stop them.

"As my girlfriend."

* * *

**By the way, reviews make our day . :)**


	11. Mind Your Own Business!

_Chapter 11_

Morgan held his breath as he waited nervously for Emily's reply, seconds seeming to stretch into years and he was beginning to think that telling her how he felt about her was a very bad idea. Things were going to get so awkward between them that one of them had to be transferred out of the team and he was going to lose his best friend. _'This sucks...'_

His train of thought ground to a halt the moment he felt Emily's lips press against his, taking him completely by surprise, but he quickly returned the kiss.

When he pulled her closer, only one word filled his mind. _Finally_. The feel of her soft lips against his was everything he dreamed it would be and more. Her sweet taste, something he'd wondered about for years, was something he was now addicted to, something he knew he would never be able to do without.

They finally separated when air became an issue. "So, I take it that you're okay with being my girlfriend?" Morgan asked, after catching his breath.

"Would I kiss you if I wasn't?"

"Good point," he said with a smile and before he could kiss her again, she stopped him.

Resting her hands on his chest, she whispered, "People are watching."

"They should really mind their own business," he sighed.

******

After dinner, the pair managed to get away from Sarah and Desiree and snuck out to the backyard, hiding themselves in the tree house. Emily smiled as she 'explored' the little house, grinning wider as she found 'Propertie of Derek Morgan. No Grils Allowed!' carved messily onto the wall. He was never going to live this down...

"Pretty cool, huh?" he said as he sat down.

"Yeah," she nodded, "But I'm not sure if I should be here."

"Why not?"

She grinned, pointing to the little note on the wall, "Because there's no girls allowed... Or maybe it just means you're not allowed to barbecue up here..."

"I was six when I did that," he replied defensively.

"And I'm guessing English wasn't your strongest subject."

"Give a six year old a break!" he said, pulling her down onto his lap. She snuggled deeper into the sheltered walls of Morgan's arms and sighed contently.

"I like it here," she whispered.

"You mean in my arms like this?" he grinned smugly.

She wanted to say yes, but seeing that smug look on his face, she decided to tease him a little. "No, I meant in the tree house."

"The things you do to my ego," he sighed dramatically.

"Come here," she laughed and pulled him closer until their lips met.

In that moment, the feel of her soft lips pressing against his, shallow at it might seem, was all he needed to know that he wanted to be with her. For now. Forever, if she was willing. As their tongues met and intertwined, Emily felt Morgan gently running his fingers down her back, across her cheeks and arms; leaving behind trails of fire wherever he touched her. Her hands slid up over his chest and around his neck pulling him impossibly closer. The slow languid kisses became a feasting of mouths, more passionate as they continued their exploration, each losing a little more control with each breath. They were so lost in wave after wave of passion that they didn't hear the sound of shoes rapping against the wooden ladder. They only pulled apart when they they heard someone squealing happily at the doorway.

"Mom, how did you know we were here?" Morgan asked after regaining the ability to speak. Emily could feel blood rushing to her cheeks.

"Next time you want to play hide and seek, try not to turn on the lights," Sarah said, pointing to the small light bulb above their heads.

"What are you guys doing here?" he asked, "Need us for something?"

"Yeah, the dishes aren't going to wash themselves," his sister responded cheekily.

"Don't bother about the dishes," Mrs. Morgan said, smiling widely, "You can pick up from where you left off." Upon hearing that, Emily was so mortified she could almost die; the ability to speak abandoned her and she wouldn't meet anyone's eyes, staring at the floor and fidgeting anxiously. "Sarah and Desiree will wash the dishes tonight."

The smug look on Sarah's face was quickly replaced with a frown. "Mom! It's his turn!"

"Help your brother out," the older woman scolded leading her away and leaving the two of them alone.

Emily buried her face in Morgan's chest and murmured, "That was awkward."

"So you _can_ talk, my blushing beauty," he teased, wrapping his arms tightly around her.

She smacked him lightly and commented, "I never thought anyone's mother would encourage her son and his girlfriend to continue making out..."

"Welcome to my world, baby."

******

As soon as Emily was in the shower, Morgan quickly gathered his family; he needed to tell them something. Something he couldn't let Emily know yet.

"You're going to propose to her!" Mrs. Morgan guessed excitedly.

"No..."

She either didn't hear him or was pretending not to, instead she began making plans for their wedding. "I think a spring wedding would be really nice, all the flowers are blooming, the weather would be perfect..."

"Mom!" he cut her off, "I'm not proposing to Emily... yet. We just started dating less than 24 hours ago..."

"So then why are we having this secret meeting?" Desiree asked.

Morgan sighed, "I haven't told her I love her yet. You have to promise me you won't say anything to her."

"Why?"

"Like I said, we just started dating less than 24 hours ago. What would you do if a guy you've been seeing for less than a day told you he loves you?"

"So, essentially we have to continue pretending that we know nothing about your secret love for Emily," Sarah remarked.

"Yes," he nodded, "Please. I can't lose her..."

"I don't know," Desiree grinned evilly, "It's a pretty big secret, I might let the cat out of the bag..."

"What do you want?"

"Desiree!" their mother scolded, "You are not blackmailing your brother! That means you too, Sarah." She continued, "No one is saying anything to Emily, is that understood?"

"Yes ma'am."

"Thanks mom," Morgan smiled.

As soon as their mother left the room, Sarah said airily, "You're still doing the dishes..."

"But mom just said no blackmailing!"

"Oh, you're deluded if you thought we'd ever follow that rule..."

Their wicked grins told him that he was up the creek without a paddle. "Remind me again why I still come back here?"

"Remind _me _again how the tough-guy FBI agent with a gun is afraid of his little sisters..."

"Hey! I'm not armed right now!"

"And that's the only thing stopping you from putting us in our place?" Desiree asked skeptically.

"Yes." They both rolled their eyes.


	12. Who Says Girls Can't Play Football?

_Chapter 12_

Morgan woke up to what could easily go down in his books as the best morning of his life, at least thus far. Yawning and stretching, he quietly entered the kitchen to find his mother teaching Emily how to make pancakes and it appeared that Emily was enjoying herself immensely. He watched as she clapped happily in self-congratulation as she successfully flipped one of the pancakes on the griddle, even catching a little air with it. His mother laughed and gave her a thumbs-up; Emily's smile became even brighter, if possible, at the older woman's praise. A new song chirped to life on the radio playing softly in the background and Emily began singing along almost unconsciously at first, more enthusiastically once she realized that she wouldn't be ridiculed for it, even dancing while she cooked.

All he could do was stand back and watch contentedly, his heart swelling from the impossible happiness he felt in that moment, loving her even more if it was possible. She tossed her head back and laughed at something his mother said. It was the perfect sight, wonderfully domestic and astoundingly beautiful. If every morning for the rest of his life went like this, he would die the happiest man in the world.

Spinning around, Emily noticed he was there for the first time. She smiled and slid towards him across the hardwood in her sock-feet. Stopping just short, she stood on her tiptoes to wrap her arms around his neck and kiss him. Pulling back sooner than he would have liked, she said, "I made you breakfast!" It was clear that she was very proud of herself. She pushed him towards the table and set down a plate of pancakes in front of him.

"She hardly needed any help," Mrs. Morgan added, obviously also proud of her cooking protégée.

Emily sat down next to him, waiting expectantly for his verdict on her breakfast. He was a little hesitant at first, taking a tentative bite, but found there to be no need. "These are wonderful," he said honestly, "Best pancakes ever. Sorry Mom..." Emily grinned from ear to ear and leaned in to kiss him on the cheek, seeing as he already had another mouthful of food.

His mother smiled happily, "Oh, that's alright, I always knew I'd be replaced one day..."

As he ate, his cell phone started to ring, so he struggled to quickly swallow the large bite he had just taken, almost choking in the process. Emily tried not to laugh, a wholly unsuccessful venture. Coughing, he sputtered, "Hello?" He listened for several moments before saying, "Hang on, I need to check with my girlfriend." Emily felt her insides glowing with a surge of happiness at his use of the word, but tried to hide what she was sure was a goofy smile as he turned to look at her. "The football coach for the youth centre is sick and they want me to run practice today. Is that cool with you?"

She grinned and nodded. _Absolutely_ it was okay. Why would she say no to the chance to see him without his shirt on?

******

"Alright," Morgan announced, "Take five!" And made his way to Emily who was watching from the side-lines.

"Good game, Coach Morgan."

"I try," he smirked.

"I love your charming modesty," she commented sarcastically.

"Hey, Coach Morgan?" A teenage girl ran towards them, "We want to play with the guys too..."

The boys from the football team laughed, "Girls can't play football with boys..."

"Why not?" Emily raised an eyebrow.

"Evolution and genetics made us stronger and faster," one of the boys replied smugly, "You're gonna go crying when we tackle you to the ground."

She turned to look at Morgan, "I sure hope they aren't getting this from you..."

Now, he knew a trap when he heard one and right now, he was heading straight for a bear trap baited with poison. "No, of course not, girls are perfectly capable of playing with boys," he said, "But I just don't know if the girls playing with the team is such a good idea... I mean, we don't have enough helmets, someone could really get hurt..."

Emily wasn't buying it. "Then we play flag."

"But..." he was about to protest before he fully realized what she had said, "What do you mean _we_?"

"I mean, I'd sure like to be a part of the ass-kicking you and your smug, chauvinistic band of boy scouts are about to receive..."

"Sounds like a challenge to me, Coach," one of the boys piped up.

"You're darn right it does," Emily goaded.

"So, you girls won't take no for an answer." It was more of a statement than a question.

"That's right," one of the girls replied. "We're going to show you that girls are just as good as boys, maybe even better..."

The two teams got into position, one of the girls, Lauren, got behind Emily so she could throw her the ball.

Emily leaned in closer to Morgan, their lips almost touching and whispered, "I'm not wearing any underwear," winking lasciviously just before she hiked Lauren the ball.

Morgan remained frozen in place, mind in a whole other place than the football field, completely forgetting to rush the quarterback as Emily sprinted past him to receive the pass. Only the sound of cheering signifying a touchdown pulled him from his blush-worthy thoughts. "Coach!" groaned several of the boys.

"Sorry..." he smirked sheepishly, although he wasn't really. "We'll get them next time." Now that he knew her trick, he'd be ready.

Two could play that game... He removed his shirt and smirked when he caught Emily blushing.

"Like what you're seeing?"

"That was low," she whispered.

"You have your tricks, I have mine," he whispered back and hiked the ball while she wasn't paying attention.

Emily glared at him for a split second before running to block a hand-off. She smiled when the girls tackled the boy with the ball. They were going to have to work for every yard. "Not so tough now!" the girls taunted.

"We'll get you the next time!" the boys replied from their huddle.

"Big talk!"

To her team, Emily whispered, "We're going to have to get creative with our plays, I'll be damned if I'm gonna lose to these losers!"

"I heard that!" Morgan called.

"Good!" Arranging themselves along the line of scrimmage, she added, "Let's get this show on the road." Everyone made runs upon the hike. "One steamboat, two steamboat," she counted aloud as per the rules before rushing on Morgan.

She tackled him at the waist, hoping that her body weight and the velocity she had built up would be enough to take down his superior mass.

It was enough, barely.

One of the girls got the ball and was about to run when she saw from the corner of her eye one of the boys was about to tackle her. She gave a yelp and dropped the ball, but kept running. Everyone stopped. "The play's still live!" Morgan shouted, seeing as he was still incapacitated from Emily's tackle.

She quickly scrambled to get up off of him while he did his best to keep hold of her to give the boys time to grab hold of the fumble. She managed to escape his grasp though, just in time to scoop up the ball and sprint away. A split second later, he was up and chasing her down.

It seemed though that that wouldn't be necessary as he saw her starting to trip, her head coming closer and closer to the ground. He waited for her to eat dirt, but was left astounded as instead she curled into a somersault, presumably instinctively to protect vital organs, and came out of it to keep on running into the end zone.

He didn't know whether to laugh or cry. He settled on laughing until he cried.

******

Everyone collapsed onto the ground, trying to catch their breath as the game ended. "Good game," Morgan said as he kissed Emily, "You managed to kick my butt... again."

"Oh, poor baby, did I bruise your ego?"

"A little," he pouted. She couldn't help but smile at how unbelievably adorable he looked. Before she could say anything else, the kids walked up to them and the girls cheered.

"Thanks Emily!" they smiled, "We had a lot of fun kicking the boys' butts..."

She grinned and looked at Morgan, "Me too."

"Don't rub it in," one of the boys said, "We're sorry we thought girls weren't good enough..."

As the kids ran off, Emily turned back to Morgan and kissed him passionately. He seemed taken aback by the unexpected display of affection. As she pulled back, he asked, "What was that for?"

"Kissing your ego better..." He pulled her down next to him and returned the kiss. This was how he wanted to live the rest of his life.


	13. Mixed Emotions

_Chapter 13_

In his dreams, Morgan indulged himself with the fantasy of waking up with Emily Prentiss in his arms. But this time, it wasn't a dream. This was real. They were lying face to face legs and arms entangled, and bodies pressed together. He couldn't think of a better way to wake up. Smiling happily, he wrapped an arm around her waist and pulled her as close as possible and kissed the top of her head. He felt her stir and waited for those big brown eyes to open.

Emily awoke to find Morgan staring at her from his pillow and suddenly she felt self-concious. "What?"

"You look beautiful."

She blushed lightly and snuggled deeper into his embrace. "I like this," she whispered, mumbling each syllable against his skin.

And he knew exactly what she meant; waking up in the arms of the person you love was as good as life could get. "Me too."

"I wish we didn't have to go back to D.C," she said, "I want to wake up and make you breakfast, kick your butt at football then come home and take naps with you."

"I want that too baby," he said, "But I could do without the butt kicking."

When she laughed, he thought it was the most beautiful sound he had ever heard. He caressed her cheek, hesitation evident in his gaze, "Emily, I..." _I love you._

"What?"

"Nothing." _Wimp!_

Emily raised an eyebrow skeptically, "I don't believe you. Come on, you can tell me."

"I love the way you laugh," he replied. He wasn't lying, he did love her laughter, it just wasn't what he wanted to say.

"That's it?" she asked, "But you seemed so afraid to tell me that."

"I was afraid you'd think it's silly," he quickly made up an excuse.

"No, I think it's sweet," she smiled and kissed him softly.

******

The pair stood at the sink after dinner, washing and drying in silence. Emily hadn't spoken a word and Morgan had no idea what went wrong. Everything was fine when they got up from bed and went to dinner. What went wrong? "Emily, is everything alright?"

"I thought we were supposed to spend time together..." Emily said softly as she took a dish from him to dry.

"We're doing the dishes together..."

"That's not what I meant," she huffed, "I mean, I don't mind helping out after the meal, but isn't it Desiree's turn? They're blackmailing you with that secret again, right?" He didn't say anything, but his silence gave away the answer. She sighed, "Derek, I know they're your sisters, but this is going a little too far..."

"Let's not talk about this, okay?" he suggested, "Let's quickly finish doing the dishes and we can hang out in the tree house. How does that sound?"

"Fine."

******

They sat in the tree house, not saying anything, just listening to the cars passing by and the crickets singing. Emily didn't understand why Morgan would let his sisters walk all over him, rather than let her in on the big secret and end the torture once and for all. She knew that he would remember his promise and tell her about it someday, but why not now? Didn't he trust her? The more she thought about it, the angrier she became.

She let out a sigh that betrayed her annoyance. Morgan looked over at her, confused; he could tell that something was off between them, but he had no idea what it was. "What's wrong?"

She shot him a glare, perhaps a little harsher than she had intended, and snapped, "Why don't you tell me..."

"What?"

"That's right, you can't. You don't tell me anything!" It was a little unfair, he had confided a lot in her, but she was hurt.

"What are you talking about?" He was genuinely confused by her sudden outburst, "I tell you everything."

"Everything?" she raised her brow.

He finally understood what she was talking about. "Look, I promised I'll tell you, I didn't forget about it..." he sighed, "But I can't tell you yet..."

"And why not?"

"Because..." Morgan trailed off, struggling for the right words.

She looked at him with tears glittering in her eyes. "Don't you trust me?"

It broke his heart that she would even think that. "Of course I trust you, more than anyone."

"Then why can't you trust me with this?" she plead, a tear escaping her eye to trickle down her cheek.

"Because it's not that simple," he said, desperately trying to make her understand.

"Nothing ever is with you," she said under her breath.

He didn't understand what was behind her sudden breakdown; they'd kept secrets before, even fought before, but never had she reacted like this. He knew that it meant she cared, that she was emotionally invested. And she was scared, scared she was going to get hurt. He did, afterall, have a reputation and not the most squeaky clean one either; he'd been one the distributing end of more than one heartbreak.

He was lost for words and she saved him the trouble. "I took a chance on you, but if you can't do the same, maybe this was a bad idea..." She got to her feet slowly, so as not to hit her head on the low roof, and started to leave, stopping at the sound of his voice.

He felt like his heart had evacuated his body. She might as well have shot him, it would have hurt less. He wasn't used to be being so emotionally vulnerable and his response was to compensate with anger. Didn't she trust him enough to know that he would only keep something secret for a good reason? Didn't she have the faith in him to believe that he wasn't going to let her down? He didn't mean to say it, but his mouth wrested control away from his brain. "You don't think I'm taking a chance too? I'm asking _you _to trust _me_! To give me just a little leeway while I try to work this out! If you can't do that..."

She had completely broken down into sobs by that point and, breath hitching in her throat, she turned on her heel and left. He heard her sniffling as she crossed the yard to slam the door shut behind her; mildly, he hoped that the rest of the family was already asleep or he would never hear the end of this. He continued to sit up in the little tree house for a while longer, tipping his head back to rest against the wall and shutting his eyes tightly. He felt a war waging inside of him as his anger attempted to beat down the shame over the hurt he had caused her.


	14. Is That What You Want?

_Chapter 14_

Emily flopped back onto her bed and sighed heavily, everything was falling apart just as quickly as it had been built... Had she really been so naïve to believe that everything would change? That _anything _would change?

One might argue that people never really change, that they're always fundamentally the same person; she didn't like to believe that, but right now she was having doubts. She had never known Morgan to try to change himself for a woman, why should she believe that she would be any different? That thought sent first sadness, then anger, then hurt coursing through her veins.

She didn't know what to think.

Reid had told her once about a conversation he had had with Morgan, something that had shocked her for a number of reasons, first that Reid would go behind Morgan's back and discuss it and second because of the subject matter of said conversation, namely, her. "He thinks you're too good for him, that you're too smart to think that you could change him," he had told her. She had stood there, dumbfounded, lost as to how she should respond to such a thing. It was one thing to secretly harbour a ridiculous crush for your co-worker, but it was a whole other thing entirely to have him dismiss the possibility based on worries that he wasn't good enough for her. Secretly, she had been tickled pink because it had meant that there was hope.

A hope that she was ashamed to say was now fading.

Maybe he had been right, maybe she couldn't change him. Because, deep down inside, maybe there was a part of him that didn't want to change. She felt another pang of sadness; she really had thought that this would work, at least for a while. She had never expected that their first fight might be their last, the end...

She didn't want it to be. But the thought that he didn't trust her had wounded her deeply.

Then she reminded herself that maybe she was just overreacting, that she had to give him time to come to terms with whatever secret it was that he was guarding so deeply, to realize that it was okay to let her in. Because really, he was probably just as scared as she was that some stupid thing was going to tear apart their growing relationship, if not more. She knew that he could probably count on one hand the serious relationships he'd had, so this was likely foreign territory for him. To bear your soul entirely to someone, to let them in and trust them explicitly, it was a monumentous step. It meant risking getting hurt, being vulnerable, something that neither of them was accustomed to doing. But it wasn't like they were jumping into it alone or at least, that wasn't how it was _supposed _to be; right now though, she was feeling like she was the only one taking that plunge.

Why couldn't he trust her? She was hurt and upset and angry and confused all at once. Angry at him, angry at herself. Why did she care so much? She had never cared so much what one person thought of her, so why did one withheld secret suddenly leave her life in ruins?

She sighed and shut her eyes, tears clinging to her lashes letting go to trace tracks down her cheeks. Maybe it would be best if they just ended this before returning home to Quantico. At least they'd have this perfect summer to remember.

_'Sometimes you just have to let go,' _she told herself, _'Sometimes it's for the best.' _But part of her doubted that it was. She didn't know if she could let go, if she really wanted to. She was starting to feel like she needed him, that she couldn't live without him. She had to ask herself, _'Is that really what I want?'_

She didn't even feel as if she had the strength to change into her pyjamas. Instead, she curled up near the headboard and cried herself to sleep.

******

When he awoke, Morgan didn't remember where he was or how he had gotten there, all memories of the disaster that had been the previous evening gone. It all came flooding back when he stood up too quickly, knocking his head against the low tree house roof. Crumpling back to the floor, clutching at his head, he vaguely remembered drifting off to sleep in the tree house while waiting for Emily to fall asleep before going back into the house.

He was startled by someone knocking against the wall of the little house and his gaze swivelled to the doorway where his mother was pulling herself up the ladder. He tried to fake a reassuring smile, but it was clear that she didn't believe it; he wasn't sure if that was because his smile was unconvincing or because she just knew.

She set a plate of banana bread and fruit salad in front of him before sitting down against the opposite wall and studying him. He made no move to touch the food and didn't meet her gaze as he felt it bearing down on him. At length, she asked, "So, what happened?

At first, he seemed surprised by her question, but quickly disguised it, he didn't really want to get into that with her. "I don't know what you're talking about."

"Don't lie to your mother." He sighed exasperatedly; how did she always know? "You had a fight..." she supplied when he didn't answer, it wasn't a question. He nodded. "What about?" she pressed.

"You know, Mom, did you ever stop to think that maybe this would be awkward for me?" He said it with a good-natured smile and a not very well disguised attempt to reroute her train of thought.

"No," she shrugged, then continued to wait expectantly. Still, he didn't answer. "This would go a lot easier if you just cooperated and told me the truth..." But nonetheless, she dispensed with the ruse and got straight to the point, "You need a good, swift kick to that soft head of yours! Do you realize how silly it is that you let everything blow up because you were afraid to tell her that you love her? Do you really think that that's a bad thing, no matter if _you _think it's too soon? How long have you been madly in love with her?" He opened his mouth to answer, but she didn't give him time. "Now, how long do you think she's been head-over-heels for you?" Again, there wasn't a split second in which he could answer. "And you're going to let her slip through your fingers?" She shook her head. "If you didn't care, you wouldn't be angry..."

Once her lecture was finished, she got up to return to the house, stopping on her way out to scold, "Eat your breakfast!"

"Wait," he said before she could go. She turned back and gave him a questioning look. "How did you know?"

She smiled mysteriously, "A mother always knows." She left him to consider her words.

He reached out to pick up the plate and, in doing so, felt a piece of card stock brush against his fingers. Lifting the paper out from under the plate, he was struck with remorse upon seeing it. A picture from just a few short days ago, the morning Emily had made breakfast. He hadn't realized that they had been photographed; she, apron-clad and face smudged with flour, was leaning up to kiss him while he gazed down at her in adoration as if the world could reveal no greater beauty than that displayed before him.

He shook his head, his mom certainly knew what she was doing when it came to guilt trips. She had made certain, just short of actually calling him a moron, that he knew he was one. Because he had let her go...


	15. Scared To Let Go

_Chapter 15_

After the lecture from his mother, Morgan had finally realized how foolish he had been to let something that seemed so small affect his relationship with Emily. He almost lost her...

He finally worked up enough courage to go see Emily. Standing outside her door, he held his breath as he gently knocked and waited for her answer. Getting no reply from her, he knocked again, "Emily?" He quietly entered her room when again she didn't respond, only to find her curled up in the fetal position on the bed, sound asleep. He knew he was stupid to have just let her leave. He had lost his temper with her and he knew she was hurting. Slowly he walked to the edge of the bed and sat down, brushing the hair off her face. The tear stains on her cheeks made him feel like a jerk. Morgan knew Emily wasn't as strong and independent as she wanted everyone to think; behind that facade was a hurt little girl who just wanted to be loved.

"Emily," he called softly, "Baby, wake up." Morgan felt her stir as he traced her jaw line with his fingers. "Emily, wake up." Finally those wide brown eyes flickered open and widened in surprise.

Emily stared at him in silence for a while; she didn't know what to think. Seeing him there almost made her heart leap out of her chest. Their fight last night seemed like an eternity ago, it felt like months since she'd seen him. He looked absolutely gorgeous in the morning light and it took all her discipline to not lean in and kiss him senseless. She wanted to tell him that everything would be okay, that they could work things out, and she would wait for him to tell her. Because seeing him there made her realize that she didn't want it to end. She didn't want to let him go.

"What are you doing here?" she asked softly.

"I felt like we needed to talk."

"Okay..." Her mind began working at a frantic speed; he definitely wanted to talk about the fight, but what was he going to say to her? Had he come to tell her that they should break up and that this was all a mistake? That they would be better off just being friends? She bit her lip, fighting with all her might to not let the tears fall from her eyes.

He saw that she was about to cry again and felt his heart skip a few beats as he rushed to counteract her tears. "No, don't cry," he quickly soothed, pulling her into his arms before gently scolding, "No more crying over me..."

She inhaled deeply, attempting to collect herself. Listlessly, she said, "If you're going to say what I think you are..." She paused to forcibly quell her tears a second time. "Then, it's okay, I understand... Sometimes, it's better to just be friends." It wasn't what she wanted to say, wasn't what she wanted to hear, but sometimes you have to make concessions so you don't lose the ones you love.

Morgan was a deer in the headlights for the longest minutes in the history of time, the silence rushing past, howling in his mind like a wind tunnel. Either fate was playing a very cruel trick on him or he was in the middle of the worst nightmare of his life. "You... What...?" he managed to stammer at length.

"Things don't always work out..." she explained, "I'd choose having you in my life as a friend and just forgetting about this over harbouring a grudge and losing you completely in a heart beat."

_'She wants to break up?' _ He couldn't believe what he was hearing; he wanted to fix things and in her mind, there was nothing left to fix. Now he felt like he was close to tears, but he couldn't let her see that. If that was what she really wanted, he would never try to force her to stay, he just wanted her to be happy. Even if it meant breaking his heart. But he had to make one last-ditch effort to make her realize that she was what he wanted, the _only _thing he wanted, needed. And he knew that the only way to make her see that was to tell her everything. "You can go," he said quietly, "But I hope you stay..."

He heard her breath hitch in her throat and he knew that was what she had been hoping to hear. Either that or he had startled her by saying that and he was just making the inevitable harder to bear. He pulled her closer against him, running a hand up and down her back; if this was the last time he got to hold her, he wanted to make the memory last.

"I know I was stupid and insensitive and a jerk and probably a dozen other things, but it was because I was scared..."

She gave a half-laugh, mostly devoid of any humour, as she murmured against his chest, "What scares Derek Morgan?"

"Losing you..." he whispered. But he knew she was too realistic to forgive him so easily after he had hurt her so badly. "I know that's no excuse for anything I said to you, because really, I don't deserve your forgiveness after that... But I'd like to earn it."

Her heart managed to feel both like it had dropped out of her chest and risen to her throat, she was tingling with anticipation of what he was going to say. As much as she attempted to remain skeptical, reserve her forgiveness until she was sure he deserved it, the eternal romantic inside that she had spent so long beating into submission was welling up at his earnest sentiment.

"And I'm going to start by telling you the truth. You deserve to know. Then, if you still want to leave, I won't stop you..."

She pushed up off his chest, wanting to see his face when he told her the big secret, the profiler part of her brain taking over, needing to see the truth in his eyes as he said the words. She allowed him to maintain his grip on her hands though because, truth be told, she was scared to let go, as if that would mean losing her grip on the corporeal, on reality.

He took a deep, steadying breath, looked down at their intertwined fingers, saying a silent prayer that he wasn't about to ruin the best thing that had ever happened to him. He had never felt more anxious, less sure of himself, but he knew it was right, what he needed to do. Looking up into her eyes, he softly said, "I love you. More than anyone. You're the only one I ever want to love. And if you leave..." He trailed off, hoping that she'd see in his eyes what he had no idea how to say with words, that his world would fall apart without her in it.


	16. Revenge is Sweet

_Chpater 16_

He still couldn't believe it, he was so happy it had to be a sin. Smiling down at her where she was wrapped up in his arms, he thought his heart would burst from the overflow of affection that he felt for her. The slowly descending reddish-gold sun beamed down upon them through the little window of the tree house, bathing the tiny room in an early evening glow. He tightened his arms around her and pressed a tender kiss to her temple. He could tell that she was half-asleep as she giggled quietly and tilted her head back to capture his lips with hers. Normally, he might have told her to go up to bed and get some sleep. But he was so content in that moment that he didn't want to change a single thing, he wanted to hold her close and cherish every last moment she was with him. Especially knowing that they would have to return to reality, to home, in a few short days.

"I love you," he whispered, kissing her again, his insides glowing with the happiness of being able to say that whenever he was struck by the happiness that only she brought into his life.

"I love you too," she replied. He couldn't help but grin foolishly upon hearing that, just like the first time she'd said it, just like every time.

And to think he had almost lost her out of fear she wouldn't reciprocate his feelings. He flashed back on her reaction to his confession, sure that it was a memory he would never forget.

"_I love you. More than anyone. You're the only one I ever want to love."_

"_What?" Emily Prentiss was normally a very eloquent woman, but his confession had caught her by surprise. She had expected something completely different when Morgan said that they should talk. _

"_I'll leave you alone..." Morgan began to try to recover from the slam. He had told he loved her and all she could respond with was incredulity. It was very apparent that his sentiments were not about to be returned. So, he gathered the shards of his broken heart and began to make his way out of her room. Emily felt his hands pulling away from hers and quickly tightened her grip. "Emily, it's okay," he said gently, "We can still be friends."_

_She stared at him in disbelief, "No!"_

"_What do you mean 'no'?"_

"_I mean I don't want to just be friends with you. I want to be your girlfriend. I want to stay with you..." she said. "I love you too," she added softly. _

"_Did you just say what I think you did?" Morgan asked cautiously._

_All Emily could do was nod. The moment was almost magical. Morgan smiled widely, pulled her into his lap and kissed her. He felt her respond as she gripped him tightly, almost afraid to let go._

Lost in his memory, he didn't hear Emily speak. Upon getting no response from him, she elbowed him gently in the ribs to get his attention. "Ow!" he groaned, faking hurt, "What?"

"How did you get your sisters to do your bidding without tattling to your mom?"

Morgan grinned smugly, obviously pleased with himself.

_Sarah and Desiree stood at the sink, their hands covered with soapy water. Morgan made his way to the sink and stood behind his sisters. "I think you missed a spot," he commented._

"_You are horrible," Desiree grumbled._

"_Me?" he raised his brows, "What about you two? You walked all over me for over a week, this is just a little payback."_

"_A little payback?" Sarah asked incredulously, "You call doing all the dishes, taking out the trash, and mowing the lawn a little payback?"_

"_Oh please, this is really not a lot," he dismissed airily, "I took you shopping, sat through hours of chick flicks on top of all the chores you so graciously provided. I can take over if you're tired..." he said quietly, mischief in his eyes, "But you wouldn't want Mom to know that you used my secret to blackmail me when she specifically told you not to..."_

"_I hate you."_

"_You don't mean it," he smiled, "Now, if you'll excuse me, I have to go to the tree house and hang out with my girlfriend." But before he left them alone, he said, "By the way, you need to make some snacks for my picnic date with Emily tomorrow."_

"_I should have smothered him in his crib when I had the chance," Sarah said under her breath. _

"_I heard that!"_

"No biggie," he shrugged, "They were happy to do it."

Emily scoffed, "Sure they were..." But she smiled as she said it and he knew she was just teasing him.

"Hey, silly girl," he gently scolded, "How about we head up to bed now, I've got a surprise for you tomorrow..."

"Okay, A) What do you mean by 'we'. And B) What's the surprise?"

He just shook his head and smiled, pulling her in for another kiss. "I love you."

******

"Don't peek!" Morgan scolded as he pulled a blindfold over Emily's eyes.

"We haven't even left the property yet," she reminded, "I promise not to look..."

He laughed and shook his head, kissing the back of her neck as he tied the blindfold on. She giggled and turned in his arms to whisper, "Are you sure don't just want to stay here..."

He kissed her deeply and murmured, "As tempting as that sounds... I promise this is going to be worth it." And with that, he spun her around and lead her towards the car.

From where she was standing, looking out the window, Sarah turned to Desiree the second the car pulled out of the driveway. "They're gone, time to teach Derek not to mess with us..."

"I don't know about this..." Desiree waffled.

"Do you want him to think he can get away with blackmailing us? Then we need to have the final say..."

"Okay," she said, grinning evilly. She handed her sister the phone and a sheet of paper with a number surreptitiously scrawled when her brother hadn't been paying attention.

While Sarah listened to the phone ring, Desiree leaned in as close as she could in an attempt to hear the conversation. "Penelope Garcia?" Sarah asked, "This is Sarah Morgan, Derek's sister. I have a piece of gossip that you may find particularly interesting... But you didn't hear it from me."


	17. Chemicals That Make You Happy

_Chapter 17_

Emily couldn't see, but she knew where they were when Morgan parked and lead her out of the car onto the street. She knew the smell, a combination of grass and oak trees accompanied by the laughter of children from a playground nearby. They were at a park, more specifically _their_ park, the one where they went to watch sunsets. "Can I open my eyes yet?" she asked as he brought her to a halt under one of the trees.

"Wait just one second," he replied, setting down the picnic basket. He gently turned her so that she was facing his surprise for her. Goosebumps broke out over her arms as he lightly traced his thumbs from her wrists to her shoulders. She felt him nuzzle her hair and heard him inhale deeply.

"You always smell so good," he murmured against her head. She giggled and sighed as his hands moved upwards into her hair, slowly tugging at the knot of the blindfold.

"Do you know where you are?"

She nodded, "Our park."

He chuckled into her hair, "That's my girl. Now I know you'll stay sharp if you're ever abducted for real."

She smirked as she reached up and stilled his hands on the knot. "Do you expect me to be abducted any time soon?"

He growled softly, "They would have to get past me first."

She smiled at the protectiveness in his voice and released his hands, letting him unmask her. She opened her eyes slowly, getting used to the sunlight before she opened them completely. She gasped softly, a small blanket spread out under the tree, a picnic basket full of apple pie, sandwiches, and lemonade. "Did you do all this?" she breathed in awe; it was by far the sweetest thing any man had ever done for her.

He nodded. "I didn't make the food though. Didn't want my girlfriend to end up with food poisoning."

_His girlfriend_. It was amazing how one simple word could make her insides glow with happiness. "Thank you. I love it," she whispered, kissing him softly, "I love you."

******

"JJ! I have big news!" Garcia squealed happily the moment JJ answered her call.

"Oh, do tell," JJ replied, "It's been a long while since there was any good gossip around here..."

"But I can't..." Garcia waffled.

JJ rolled her eyes, "Wouldn't it be easier if you had to tell me something you could say?"

There was an audible huff that clearly said Garcia hadn't found the joke funny. "But it's so good..." she self-deliberated.

"Make up your mind!"

It only took a second longer for her to make a decision. "I just got a call from Morgan's sister..."

"Oh, that's right, Morgan's down in Chicago for the two weeks, right?"

"And he brought someone with him..."

"Oh..." JJ grinned as she heard the news dawned on her. _'About time._' Her grin widened as Garcia went on to tell her the plans she had in store for the love birds. _'Maybe going back to work won't that bad,'_ she thought, _'At least there'll be something fun to do.'_

******

The couple dined in silence, simply enjoying each other. Emily sighed contentedly as she snuggled closer to Morgan. Smilingly, he wrapped his arms tighter around her waist and kissed the back of her head. When the food was gone and lemonade was drank, she spoke. "I love you Derek."

He smiled and kissed her head, "I love you too Em." She shivered involuntarily. The sun had started its descent, along with the temperature. "You cold, baby?" He sat up and grabbed the worn blanket he had brought with him and pulled it over them. He cuddled back down to her, wrapping his arms around her to keep her warm.

She lifted her head up and planted a kiss on his lips. Morgan caught himself smiling into the kiss; in fact, he had caught himself smiling like an idiot many times that day. He pulled away from her lips and leaned his forehead against hers. "I love you so much." His whispered words sent a shiver down her spine. "Still cold?"

She smiled at him and kissed him once on the cheek. "No." Once on the nose. "You do this to me." Once on the lips. "I love you."

He buried his face in the crook of her neck, trailing kisses. "Seriously Em, you make me so incredibly happy."

She smiled, deciding to tease him a little, "When people fall in love, the brain consistently releases a certain set of chemicals, such as dopamine and serotonin which stimulate the brain's pleasure centre. That's what makes you feel happy all the time."

"You've been hanging around Reid way too much," he mumbled against her skin.

Emily felt her heart rate speed up as Morgan continued to trail soft kisses along her throat. "Derek," she whispered, voice breathy, affected, "We should get back."

"Why?" he smirked, murmuring against her skin, he felt her pulse speed up. "Don't you want to watch the sunset?"

"You're distracting me," she replied and shifted to kiss him intensely. "And you made me eat a lot, so you'll have to help me burn off the calories..." her words tickled his lips. She smirked as she watched him swallow hard. She wasn't the only one affected.

"Let's go," he said huskily, packing as fast as he could.

******

The darkened room was filled with nothing else but their heavy breaths, trying to be calmed back to normal again. They didn't say anything for a while, just quietly lying in each other's arms basking in the afterglow. Emily snuggled closer to him, resting her head on his shoulder, her hand on his chest, spreading over his heart and giggled quietly.

"What's so funny?" Morgan asked.

She shook her head, "I'm just so ridiculously happy."

He laughed and kissed her forehead, "I'm happy too."

She lifted her head to look him in the eye and smiled. He wanted to say something but he couldn't, he could do no more than stare into her hazel brown eyes. There was something about that moment, in the low light of the bedroom that made him willing to remain under her spell. Not that he wasn't already, but that was another issue entirely.

"I love you," she pressed their lips together gently. But before they could get very far, a slightly muffled ringing reached their ears.

Momentarily, Morgan contemplated not answering but that probably wasn't a very good idea... What if it were something important? With a sigh, Morgan followed the muffled sound, eventually revealing his phone on the floor beneath the shirt he'd worn earlier.

He smiled when he saw the familiar number on display and lifted the phone to his ear, "Morgan."

"My hot fudge cupcake! Miss me?" the caller on the other end squealed happily. She didn't give him time to reply, "I'm sorry, I know I should keep it a secret... At least until you guys come home, but I'm so excited I can't keep my mouth shut! Emily's with you right? Put me on speaker!"

"Okay, you're on speaker now," he informed, "So, what's the big secret? Did Kevin propose to you?"

"No, it's better than that!"

"Garcia, you really need to start drinking decaf," Emily suggested; the blond tech was like an energizer bunny.

She laughed, "I haven't had any caffeine today. I'm just really excited because a little bird told me you and Derek finally got together!"

"What? Who?" So, their plans of keeping them a secret had officially been ruined.

"Can't say," she replied in a sing-song tone, "But my sources are reliable. I'm just so happy for you guys! Took you long enough."

"Garcia, you can't tell anyone," Emily admonished.

"Uh-oh..."

"Define 'Uh-oh'."

"JJ knows..."

"Who else?"

"Just her," she replied. "Oh, I checked the security cameras from the grocery store... that was one hell of a kiss." She giggled happily, "I can't wait for you to get back, we can go on double dates and you can tell me everything..."

Morgan clicked the phone shut after demanding Garcia to promise never to tell another soul about them and fell back to bed, wondering who would spill the beans. "You know," Morgan started, "I have a pretty good idea of who that 'little bird' is..."

"You do?"

"Yeah," he nodded. "Only five people know about us, including you and me."

Then it hit her like a freight train, "Sarah and Desiree."

"Uh-huh," he replied. "Oh, they're in big trouble..." While they dealt with a hyper-active blond tech in Quantico, his sisters would have to deal with an angry mom here.

"Derek," she sighed, "When is this revenge game going to end? I don't know if I want to get involved..."

"I'll take care of that," he smiled, "Right now, we have to pick up from where we left off..."


	18. Not Yet

_Chapter 18_

"Derek!" Mrs. Morgan's voice floated up the stairs to where he and Emily were reluctantly packing up their things to return home. "Could you please come down here and give me a hand for a minute?"

"Coming Mom," he called back.

"Don't be too long," Emily said, giving him a quick kiss, "I think you actually made more of a mess in your attempt to 'pack'."

"What do you need?" he asked upon meeting his mother on the landing.

"Nothing..." she whispered, pulling him out the front door, looking about as if she were about to be interrupted in the midst of some clandestine plot. "I have something I want to give you..."

He gave her a quizzical look, wondering what necessitated such secrecy. She wrapped her fingers about his wrist, pulling his hand towards her and pressing something into his palm. Retracting his hand, he looked down at the object and immediately felt a pang of something he couldn't quite place. "Your ring..." he whispered, looking up to meet her eyes.

"I want you to give it to Emily," she said quietly, happy tears sparkling in her eyes.

"Mom..." he sighed, "I think that's still a long way off..."

"Are you sure about that?"

"Mom..."

"Hang on to it just in case..." she cut him off, pulling him into a hug. "I'm just so happy for you."

******

"We have to go, security could take a while..." Morgan said, untangling himself from his mother's hug.

She sighed, "Okay. Be safe."

Emily smiled, "We will."

"You will come back for Christmas right?"

"Yes Mom," Morgan assured her.

"Oh, actually, I was talking to Emily," his mother joked.

"I know, I just like to pretend I'm still your favourite..."

"Oh, you were never the favourite," Sarah jibed.

And now, it was time to put an end to the revenge game once and for all. "I'll come back more often if Sarah and Desiree promise to never blackmail me with my secrets again..."

Their eyes widened in horror, before narrowing into a frosty glare. Morgan smirked as his mother turned to them, "I thought I said no blackmailing!"

"You promised not to tell!" Sarah hissed.

"That was before you called up Garcia..." He checked his watch again and said, "We really have to go. I'll call you when we get home." He gave his mother a kiss on the cheek, then grabbed Emily's hand to pull her towards the gate, "Come on Em."

"Alright, be safe honey," Mrs. Morgan repeated, then turned to glare at her daughters, waiting for an explanation. "Well?"

"I really should have smothered him in his crib when I had the chance," Desiree muttered.

As soon as they were far enough from Morgan's sisters, Emily said, "I can't believe you did that to them. From the looks of it, your mom is going to punish them for a long time... I'd sleep with one eye open when you go back, if I were you."

He shrugged, "That'll teach them not to mess with me."

She shook her head. "You know, I was trying to figure out what I love best about you... Now, I realize it's your maturity..."

"I know," he said seriously, leaning down to kiss her quickly, pretending as if it weren't a playful insult.

******

"Garcia's probably camped out at your door, waiting for us to get home," Emily laughed as Morgan pulled the SUV out of the airport parking lot.

He gave a snort of laughter, sure that that probably wasn't too far off the mark. "You know we're in for a questioning that would put the CIA to shame..."

She smiled, "I'm counting on it." She reached across the centre console to intertwine their fingers, smiling brightly at him. "It's worth it."

******

Sure enough, when they walked through the front door of Morgan's apartment, Garcia was already there. "Been waiting for us?" Morgan asked, smiling.

"No, of course not, that would just be weird. I was here checking on Clooney when you happened to arrive home," she said. And while it was true that she was looking after Clooney while they were gone, it was also true that she knew their flight itinerary. "But, now that you're here, why don't we have a little chat..."

"Actually," Emily interjected, "I should probably get home. Gotta get ready for work tomorrow." Morgan playfully glared at her for her underhanded little trick. And, because she couldn't resist throwing him under the bus, she added, "But feel free to stay and grill Derek..."

At the door, despite being painfully aware of Garcia watching their every move like a hawk, Morgan pulled Emily into a deep kiss, whispering, "I'll see you later?"

"Promise." She kissed him lightly once more, waved goodbye to Garcia, and was gone.

He turned away from the door, emptying his pockets onto the kitchen counter before offering, "Coffee?"

"Yeah, sure," she said distractedly. "So, how did..." she started to say before she cut herself off with a gasp. Morgan stopped measuring out the coffee grounds to give her a questioning look, only to find her looking at the contents of his pockets. Slowly, she reached out to pick up the ring, examining it closely before turning to look at him, eyes wide with excitement. "Oh my God! You're going to propose to her!"

"Garcia, wait, before your mind gets carried away..."

"Oh, this is so exciting! This is perfect! You should have a spring wedding. Oh, and can you imagine how beautiful your children will be..." she babbled, her thoughts going a hundred different directions.

"Garcia!" He snapped his fingers in front of her face to get her attention. "I'm not proposing. At least not yet..."


	19. Apparently They are Very Obvious

**Just a short note: Thank you so much for your kick-ass reviews. We are totally loving them.**

_Chapter 19_

The next working day, Rossi found two blissful agents in the bullpen. Morgan and Emily would surreptitiously glance at each other from the corners of their eyes, attempt to hide their happy smiles, and continue to type like no one was the wiser, when in fact the entire team – other than Reid, who was clueless as usual – knew that there was something going on between them. It was just that obvious. He couldn't help but smile;_ 'About time.'_

When Rossi was alone with Morgan in the break room, getting their daily dose of coffee, he casually said, "So, you and Emily, huh?" He chuckled as he took in the shocked look on Morgan's face.

"How did you know?"

"Please, I'm a profiler," he dismissed, then explained, "You and Emily need to stop ogling each other from your desks and jumping on each other in every semi-private place you can find." Rossi smiled as Morgan choked on his sip of coffee, "Just keep it out of the office."

Morgan nodded, composing himself before replying, "Thanks for your advice. We'll tone it down."

Emily smiled at Morgan as she entered the break room while he winked in return. Rossi shook his head and smiled. _'Young love,_' he thought; it really was a beautiful thing.

******

That evening Emily snuggled deeper into the sheltered warmth of Morgan's arms and sighed contentedly. After work, they had decided to hang out in one of their own apartments. His, as it turned out. Emily had been over a couple of times, but had never had a proper look around. Aside from a few photographs, every single piece of furniture and household item bespoke function, not décor, which was not surprising. Weights, punching bag, kitchen appliances, ostentatious TV, overflowing bookcases, writing desk, leather sofa, barstools, and one king-size bed. She smiled to herself. This was _his _home. And, despite its lack of beauty, it certainly had its charms.

They lay on his bed, fully clothed, Morgan spooned against her back and gently holding her to him, their legs intertwined. She turned in his arms and looked up at him. For the millionth time, she was struck by just how much she loved the brown eyes staring back at her.

"Any special reason for all the cuddles, SSA Morgan?"

"Do I need a special reason to hold my girlfriend?" he smiled, nuzzling her neck.

"I guess not," she smiled before asking, "What were you and Rossi talking about in the break room before I came in?"

"Rossi knows about us."

Emily was surprised, "I knew they would figure it out... But so soon?"

"Apparently we are very obvious," he shrugged. "He said, and I quote, 'we need to stop ogling each other from our desks and jumping on each other in every semi-private place we can find.'"

She laughed lightly, "So that's why you looked so embarrassed..."

"I'm glad my discomfort is amusing to you," he pouted.

"I'm sorry," she kissed his nose. "So I take it that the entire team knows?"

"No, Reid's still in the dark."

"No surprises there." She considered the best next move for a moment. "Do you think we should let them know? Officially?"

"You mean you want to tell them?"

"Yeah, I mean they already know. So why not just tell them?" she replied, "And that way we don't have to hide. I really don't like to pretend that there's nothing going on between us when I'm madly in love," she added, meeting his eyes.

He smiled, "Madly in love, huh?"

She rolled her eyes as he attempted to disguise sentiment with smugness.

"I love you too, Princess," he whispered, pressing a soft kiss on her forehead and pulling her closer. "We'll go out to dinner with the team and we'll tell them."

"Okay," she nodded, snuggling deeper into his embrace and sighed contentedly before letting the exhaustion of the day pull her into a dreamless sleep.

******

"So, what's the _real _reason you wanted us to have dinner together?" Garcia asked cheekily.

"There's another reason?" Reid frowned, "I thought we were just catching up."

"There is another reason, Spence, " JJ smiled.

Morgan glanced at Emily and she nodded. "Emily and I are dating, which most of you already know."

"Most of us?" Reid asked, looking sharply at each team member in turn, "Who?"

"We all know," Hotch confirmed with a rare small smile.

"And no one told me?"

"They didn't tell us either," Rossi replied, "We figured it out."

"So, if we already know, why are you telling us?" Garcia grinned, "Are you getting married?"

"No," Emily smiled, "Not yet. We just didn't like to pretend that nothing is going on between us. We didn't want to hide." Morgan smiled, leaning in and giving her a kiss on the cheek.

Garcia squealed softly. "You two are just so cute," she gushed. "But I think you should give her a real kiss."

"Yeah, I agree," JJ grinned.

Morgan shook his head and leaned in to capture Emily's lips with his. She moved herself closer to him as the kiss got more heated. As they heard Garcia's squealing they gently broke apart, Emily resting her head on his shoulder, turning her face into his neck in embarrassment.

* * *

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	20. Things You can Find While Babysitting

_Chapter 20_

Morgan groaned as his phone started to ring. A cursory glance at the alarm clock proclaimed that it wasn't yet 8:00 in the morning. A phone call at that hour never foretold something good, especially not on a Saturday morning. He had a feeling that his plans for a romantic weekend at home with Emily were about to be washed down the drain.

It went without saying, then, that when he heard Garcia's voice on the other line rather than JJ's he was more than a little surprised. For a minute, he was worried that something was wrong; that is, until she gushed, "I am so sorry to interrupt your weekend plans..." He could hear the subtext underlying the last two words. "But I have a really huge favour to ask of you."

Reluctantly, he asked, "What is it?"

"Well, I promised JJ that I would babysit Henry this weekend, but Kevin's parents are unexpectedly coming into town for the weekend, so I'm kind of stuck between a rock and a hard place here... I was really hoping that you could look after Henry for me," she explained.

"Oh, Garcia," he groaned, "I don't know the first thing about taking care of babies..."

She interrupted his protest, "Okay, I know I said I had a favour to _ask_, but it wasn't really a question... I think you will help me out here..."

"Why would you think that?"

"Because you don't want me to tell Emily about that diamond ring you have in your pocket..."

He heaved a sigh and shut his eyes, making a mental note to remind himself to check for the sign on his back advertising him as an easy blackmail target. "I guess it wouldn't be too much trouble to look after Henry."

"Besides," she added, "You could always get Emily to give you a hand."

"Yeah," he said sarcastically, rolling his eyes, "Look how well that worked out..."

When he returned to bed, Emily rolled over and sleepily murmured, "How long until the jet leaves?"

He laughed and kissed her shoulder. "No case," he told her, "But how would you feel about helping me babysit for the weekend?"

"Jack?" she asked, confused.

"Henry," he corrected.

"Right," she laughed, "I forgot about him... I think that sounds like a wonderful plan."

"You're just saying that because you hope that if you agree, I'll let you go back to sleep..."

"Yeah, so?"

He smiled and shook his head. "Get your rest, Sleeping Beauty. You'll need it..."

******

"Why did you offer to babysit if you knew Kevin's parents were coming into town?" JJ asked Garcia when she called to tell her that Morgan and Emily would now be the ones babysitting.

"Really? You really need to ask that question?" Garcia asked, shaking her head, "I'm disappointed in you. There was a time when you would have been able to see right through a scheme like this..."

JJ smiled, "Yeah, I've lost my touch. Give me a refresher..."

"Well, a plan like this accomplishes two goals," she narrated, taking the long way around, "One, it will annoy Morgan that I blackmailed him. And two, taking care of a baby with Morgan is going to awaken all of Emily's maternal instincts and Morgan will get to see what a good mother she'll make..."

"Say no more, I understand completely."

"And you don't disapprove of me using your son as a prop in my evil scheme?"

"Hardly. Besides, it'll seem less like poor parenting than if it had been my idea."

******

Emily stood frozen in the middle of the room, a goofy smile spreading across her face, her heart swelling with happiness as she watched what had to be the sweetest thing she had ever seen. Morgan held a gently swaddled Henry in his arms, bottle-feeding the infant, quietly singing a lullaby, attempting to put the baby down for a nap.

In that moment, she knew that she wanted nothing more than for that baby in his arms to be their own.

"Emily!" Morgan said again when she didn't respond to her name the first time. She snapped out of her reverie and tried to pretend like she had been so spellbound by the scene. "Can you grab my cell phone from my jacket pocket?" he asked, "I want to double check with JJ about how to properly put the little guy to sleep."

She nodded and smiled, still struggling to form words. Upon finding the jacket, which was easier said than done, it took even longer to dig through all the pockets for the one containing his phone. Sighing aggravatedly, she began emptying the contents onto the counter, wondering why he felt the need to carry many of the items around with him. Several crumpled pieces of paper, a handful of loose change, a rock, a random key, a small plastic sword that might be used to serve hors d'oeuvre s, a safety pin, an eraser, a paper clip, a purple crayon. Still no phone.

She was about to abandon her search when her fingers grazed something else hiding in a corner of the right inside breast pocket. Her breath hitched in her throat. She very slowly pulled it from the pocket, her hand trembling.

A ring.

Specifically, a _diamond _ring. An _engagement _ring.

There was a delay before her brain locked on to the significance of that. He was going to _propose_? She didn't know what to think.

"Em?" Morgan's voice came floating down the hallway, "Can't find it?"

She panicked. If he had actually bought the ring, then he had to have planned something special for the proposal. If he knew that she had found it, it would ruin the surprise, ruin his plans. She quickly put it back in the pocket, her heart pounding. Absent-mindedly dumping the rest of his pocket garbage back into various pockets, she attempted to calm herself before calling back, "I found a rock, a sword, and a crayon, but no phone..."

He laughed. "That's probably because I just remembered it was in my pants pocket..."


	21. This was Getting Ridiculous

_Chapter 21_

Emily heard the mumbling and the constant tapping of keyboards in the bullpen, but it barely registered. Her mind was on a whole other planet. Since she had found the ring a couple of days ago, she couldn't stop thinking about it. Or the man who possessed the ring.

Derek Morgan. Damn that man. He was going to ask her to marry him after dating for less than two weeks? Who does that? And what should she say when he did propose? While it was true that their relationship had taken an unconventional route and they could tell each other 'I love you' without it being an accident, it was still too soon for them.

And what scared her to death was that she really, _really_ wanted to marry him. Especially after watching him with Henry. Emily already knew that their children would worship Morgan. They would adore their giant of a father, almost as much as he would adore them. She could hear their shrieks of laughter as he lifted them high in the air, convinced that he need only lift them a little higher and they could pluck stars right out of the sky. Her heart ached with love at these thoughts.

She shook her head hard and attempted to concentrate on the paperwork in front of her, but quickly found herself thinking about her personal problems again. She liked her work, loved it, actually. But her relationship with Morgan was a direct violation of its code of ethics. Just being together could get them and Hotch in big trouble. Marriage would immediately force one of them to leave. And if they were married, it would make sense for her to leave instead of him. After all, she would be the one getting pregnant.

Hold that thought. Pregnant. Children. Where had that come from? She couldn't believe herself. Morgan hasn't even proposed and she was already letting her thoughts run wild. Maybe that ring didn't belong to Morgan. _'What would it be doing in his pocket if it wasn't his?'_ God, this was getting ridiculous.

She sighed and shook her head again. _'Back to work, Emily. Back to work.'_

_******_

Despite the interesting storyline and the talented cast of the movie, Emily couldn't seem to concentrate on anything but the whole ordeal with the ring. It had been a week and Morgan hadn't so much as brought up a conversation that remotely concerned marriage or weddings. The whole waiting thing was driving her up the wall. She let out a sigh that betrayed her frustration.

"Baby, is something wrong?" Morgan asked, looking down at her.

"No, I'm fine."

"Are you sure?" he asked, unconvinced. "You seem distracted. For the whole week."

She nodded, "I'm just tired."

He didn't quite believe her, but he didn't want to push her. He had learned the hard way that pushing her for information would cause her to close herself up even more. The only thing he could do was to wait for her to come to him. "Alright," he pulled her closer, pressing a kiss on her temple. "You want to go to bed now?"

"Let's finish the movie first," she mumbled against his chest. While they sat in silence, quietly watching the movie, he seemed to need to touch her every few minutes; hugging her gently, stroking her arms, caressing her hair, kissing her forehead. It was comforting yet frustrating.

"Derek, do you think we're moving too fast?" she asked softly.

He shifted to look at her, "Maybe. But it works for us, right? And we've known each other for years before we started dating, so perhaps that's why we're a little faster than other couples."

"Yeah, maybe," she answered pensively. "But I do like where we are now. I don't want anything change yet."

"Don't worry, nothing is going to change between us any time soon," he smiled, "Is that what you've been thinking about all week?"

"Kind of."

"Look, I know we're both kind of new to this whole serious relationship thing, but I believe we're doing just fine," he assured her. "Don't worry, okay? Nothing is going to change."

"Okay." Nothing is going to change? Then what's with the engagement ring? Emily sighed; she could foresee another sleepless night and countless questions with no answers.

******

Emily couldn't take it anymore. She needed to know why he had an engagement ring with him. Two weeks of waiting for something to happen had taken a toll on her. Sleepless nights, thousands of unanswered questions, and constantly having to pretend that she didn't know about the ring was just eating her up inside. She wanted – needed – to know and she was going to make him tell her. She waited until he was in the shower, picked up the jacket, and pulled out the ring.

The moment Morgan stepped out of his shower, he found Emily at the edge of the bed. Their eyes met and he could tell that something was bothering her. Something had been bothering Emily for the past week, but she wouldn't tell him anything. She would pretend everything was fine and simply say that she was tired. Her moods changed faster than usual. It reminded him of when JJ was pregnant with Henry. JJ also said that she was always tired when she was pregnant.

Could Emily be pregnant? He wouldn't be surprised. He had made love to her countless times and they'd never spent a night apart. Is that why she was afraid things were going to change between them? He quickly made his way to her, kneeling down in front of her, he asked, "Baby, what's wrong? Are... Are you pregnant?"

She was like a deer in the headlights. Pregnant? Where did he get that? "No," she managed, "I'm not pregnant. Why would you say that?"

"I don't know," he replied, "You've been acting weird lately and you kept saying that you were tired..."

"I'm not pregnant. I'm sure."

"Okay, then can you tell me what's bothering you?" She opened up her hand, the ring sitting in her palm. She heard his breath hitch in his throat. "How..." he looked at her, shocked, unable to complete his sentence.

"I found it the other day, when we were babysitting Henry," she explained. "Why do you have a ring? Were you going to propose? Don't you think it's a little too soon for us?" She hadn't intended to ask so many questions at once, but she couldn't control her mouth. Those questions had been bugging her for way too long.

"First, it belonged to my mom," he began, "My dad gave it to her and, before we left Chicago, she passed it to me. She wanted me to give it to you. Believe it or not, she started planning for our wedding even before we got together," he laughed half-heartedly. "Second, I'm not going to ask you to marry me yet. And lastly, yes; it's a little too soon for us."

"But why didn't you tell her that?"she asked softly.

"I did, but she wanted me to hang on to it. Just in case," he said, letting their hands intertwine. "Look, I didn't tell you before because I didn't want you to freak out."

"So, you're not going to propose?" she smiled happily; she had got to be the first woman in the world who was delighted that her boyfriend wasn't going to be proposing to her any time soon. She felt like the weight of the world had been lifted off her shoulders and she was more than ready for a long nap.

"Not yet," he smiled, "So, you're not pregnant?"

"Not yet,"she repeated his statement, yawning.

Morgan smiled and kissed her forehead. He knew she hasn't been sleeping well for the past couple of weeks since she had found the ring. "Sleep, princess. I'll wake you up for dinner."

She nodded, resting her head on the pillow, her eyelids slowly closing. "I love you," was the last thing she heard before drifting into a peaceful sleep.

* * *

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	22. You are Cordially Invited

_Chapter 22_

They lay on Emily's couch, bodies intertwined so that they were almost one, watching a movie on a late Saturday afternoon while waiting for their friends to arrive. Morgan was still confused as to how exactly this had happened... All he knew was one minute they were having a nice conversation with Garcia and the next she had talked them into hosting a dinner party for the team. Not to mention the fact that Garcia already knew that Emily knew about the ring, so technically speaking, her 'blackmailing days' should be over. Right now, the question he had in his mind was, were they blackmailed or under some sort of spell? But Emily had been pleased as punch at the suggestion and, although he would have much preferred to have her all to himself for the evening, he found her enthusiasm rubbing off on him.

"Derek?" her voice pulled him out of his reverie.

"Yeah, baby?"

"We should start cooking now."

"You mean defrosting," he smiled, "I still don't get how Garcia managed to talk us into hosting a dinner party when neither of us can cook."

She shrugged and before she could reply, someone knocked on the door. "It's a little early, isn't it?" he asked, checking his watch.

"Maybe it's Garcia, she must be excited," Emily replied. "Come in, it's not locked," she called. As she heard the door open and close, not taking her eyes of the TV, she added, "There's wine on the counter."

"Emily."

Morgan frowned, that voice definitely did not belong to any of their friends, yet it was a familiar one. While Morgan wondered who it was, Emily had a pretty good idea who it was. She stood up, "Mother?"

******

Emily and Morgan sat on the couch and Elizabeth Prentiss sat on the single seater. No one had said anything yet and the elephant in the room seemed to be getting bigger by the minute. Morgan gently squeezed Emily's hand to remind her that he was there for her; she gave him a small smile, reassuring him that she was fine. It had been almost two years since she had last seen her mother and she didn't know what to think now.

Elizabeth Prentiss broke the silence, "Emily, aren't you going to introduce me to your friend?"

"Of course," Emily replied. "This is Derek Morgan, my _boyfriend_." She put extra emphasis on the word, not sure whether to make a point or to irritate her, perhaps both.

"Nice to meet you," Morgan gave her a small smile.

"I've met you before," Ambassador Prentiss narrowed her eyes on him, "You're Emily's colleague."

"Yes, we work together."

"That's hardly professional," her mother commented.

Emily resisted the urge to roll her eyes and asked, "Why are you here, Mother?"

"Right," Ambassador Prentiss reached into her bag and pulled out an invitation card, "You're invited to a party. Your friend can come too."

"Mother, I don't go to your parties. I'm not interested in politics."

"Emily, all the other ambassadors and politicians will be there with their families."

"Another reason why I never go to such parties," Emily muttered under her breath.

"I'll see you there," she said, leaving no room for them to decline. "I have to go, I have another appointment." And with that she left them alone.

******

Morgan stepped out of the car and was immediately accosted by the valet. He handed him the keys and the man gave him a valet number. Emily also got out of the car, although much more reluctantly, and walked around the front to stand next to Morgan. "Classy party," he commented, observing the expensive hotel in front of him. An array of well-dressed individuals entered the building from all directions. He turned to see the valet drive away in his car. "We can't back out now," he added with a slight shrug and a grin.

She smiled and leaned in to kiss him quickly, "Thanks for doing this for me."

"I'll do anything for you." Emily blushed a little, linked her arm with his and the two headed to the front door arm in arm.

"I feel like I'm in an airport." Emily stated in a quietly as they waited to go through security, seeing as there were numerous important foreign officials and dignitaries in attendance. Personally, she couldn't imagine who in their right mind would be there of their own free will if it weren't of paramount importance to their career; she'd like to meet the criminal who could stand more than five minutes of the mind-numbing political drabble they were about to endure.

"Do you think they'd kick me out for saying 'bomb'?" Morgan whispered.

Emily laughed slightly. "Yes," she responded, "But at least that would make this evening unforgettable and then we wouldn't have to stay... Go ahead, do it." He only laughed and she was a little disappointed when he didn't actually say it.

As soon as they passed the security checkpoint, Emily quickly pulled Morgan to a quiet corner of the ballroom, in attempt to avoid any mindless, boring conversations.

But, like a bloodhound, Ambassador Prentiss immediately found them made her way to them with a young gentleman at her side who managed to look only a little alarmed. "Emily, there you are," she remarked with a polite smile, "Let me introduce to you Sam Baker."

"Nice to meet you," she replied politely, shaking his hand.

"Pleasure's all mine," he smiled and turned to Morgan.

"Derek Morgan," he introduced himself, shaking his hand as well.

"He's Emily's friend," Ambassador Prentiss informed.

Emily corrected her, "He's my _boyfriend_." It came out a little harsher than she intended. Or not.

She knew her mother had had a motive for inviting her to this party. She just hadn't considered that her own mother would try to set her up with some guy so she climb up her career ladder. Although, that had really been a foolish oversight on her part, she should have seen it coming.

She turned to Sam and, as politely as she could manage, asked, "Would you please excuse me for a minute," before rounding on her mother and hissing, "Can I talk to you for a second?"

Pulling her out of earshot of the two men, Emily snapped, "What do you think you're doing?"

"He's the son of a very important diplomat, I thought you might be able to have a pleasant conversation with him for a few minutes, but clearly that's..."

Emily cut her off, "Don't give me that! I know perfectly well what you were _really _doing. You can't just use me as a pawn in your political games and you certainly can't go around trying to set me up when it plays into your cut-throat strategy! I'm with Derek and even if you don't like him, you're just going to have to accept that I do!"

"I was not," her mother exclaimed, "But honestly, I don't understand what you see in him."

"You don't understand a lot of things, including me," Emily countered icily, "And I swear to God, if you ever try to set me up with another man, I will not be so polite the next time." They glared at each other in a frosty stalemate for several moments before Emily turned on her heel to return to the two waiting men, her mother following a split second behind.

Emily's smile masked her discomfort from everyone… Except Morgan, who sensed her frustration. He slipped his hand into hers and squeezed gently. She gave him a small smile and turned to Sam, "I'm sorry, please excuse us."

"Of course," Sam replied politely, "It was very nice meeting you."

"Okay, what's wrong?" Morgan asked, as soon as they were out of earshot.

Emily pulled him out the door, leading to a small garden and sighed, "She tried to set me up with that guy." He didn't say anything and waited for her to continue. "What kind of mother would use her own daughter like some pawn in a game?"

He pulled her close, rubbing her back soothingly and whispered, "I'm sorry. We can always leave if you like. I'm sure I can think of a way to cheer you up... Something unladylike that I'm sure your mother wouldn't approve of..."

Emily smiled and kissed him. "Hold that thought. I'll definitely take you up on that later, but for now, I'd like to stay for a while and rub her face in just how happy we are together."


	23. That Wasn't Supposed to Happen

_Chapter 23_

Morgan was pleasantly surprised to find Emily to be such a graceful dancer. Not that he had never seen her dance before, just not like _this_. This was classy dancing, ballroom dancing, dancing that actually required training and skill. Not the instinctual club dancing that he was used to.

The surprising part was the astounding grace with which she seemed to float across the dance floor. It was such a dichotomy from the usual clumsy Emily he was used to. He thought it was adorable, the way she would trip over thin air before a room full of people and then smile as if she had intended to do that.

But this, this was a whole other side of her that he had never seen, but could certainly get used to. The thought of the first dance at their wedding came to the forefront of his mind and he had to shake his head to push the image away, reminding himself that he had promised her he wasn't going to be proposing any time soon; such thoughts would certainly make that a difficult promise to keep.

He had to admit, he was quite enjoying this plan of getting back at Emily's mother. And, while he certainly thought it was a bad idea to be getting on the bad side of the woman who would very likely be his future mother-in-law, he couldn't resist Emily when she had that look on her face. To be fair, the scheme was innocent enough, it just involved slightly less decorum than those around them were employing; harmless kisses and dancing, that was all. Although, he knew that if she kept it up, they weren't going to be able to stay much longer... For more reasons than one.

He pulled her closer to him, almost protectively, for a slower dance. "Mother must be absolutely fuming," she said, "I wouldn't be surprised if there were steam coming from her ears."

He swallowed hard as she pressed her hips against his with more pressure than the dance necessitated. He nodded, not trusting himself to speak.

She laughed and leaned up to trail kisses along his jaw. That was when she noticed the tension in his face. "What's wrong?" she whispered.

He swallowed again and said, "Let's get out of here..." He stared intensely into her eyes, making sure that she understood exactly what he was proposing.

She laughed again, understanding exactly what he meant. As much fun as she was having pissing off her mother, whatever Morgan was planning on doing to her the minute he got her alone was guaranteed to be infinitely more fun. She pulled him down to kiss him passionately on the lips. "Well, why didn't you say anything sooner?" she murmured against his lips. She felt a little bad for teasing him, so she added, "Let's go." He grinned broadly and grabbed her hand, practically dragging her away from the dance floor.

They had very nearly made their escape when shots rang out through the hall. Both immediately stopped in their tracks and reached to their hips where their weapons would usually have been, before they remembered that holsters had been on the 'don't' list of the dress code for the evening. Emily smiled as she heard Morgan, curse softly under his breath as he did so; so much for their plans.

A quick survey of the scene revealed a large amount of chaos. It took a few additional seconds for them to identify the shooter, a particularly disgruntled looking waiter. They ducked behind one of the tables, assessing the situation, trying to identify if there was more than one shooter, but it seemed that he was alone.

Briefly, Morgan wondered what good all the security checks and bodyguards did when they had let an assassin into the ballroom under the guise of staff. A loud bang snapped him out of his thoughts and he looked up to check if anyone was hurt.

While nobody was injured, the shooter had managed to press his gun to Ambassador Prentiss' temple. He heard Emily gasp as she watch her mother being taken hostage. The look on her face almost killed him. He knew that Emily had some issues with her mother, but she never wanted her to come to any harm. He pulled Emily close and whispered, "Whatever you do, don't come out."

"What are you doing?" She recognized that look on his face, the one he always got before tackling an unsub. "No! You are _not_ going out there! You don't even have your gun!"

"That's just hardware," he said determinedly, "I don't need a gun to take this guy down."

"Morgan," she pleaded, "This is crazy, you're going to get yourself hurt."

"What kind of a son-in-law would I be if I let her get hurt?" he said before covertly slinking away to get to a better vantage point.

She wasn't sure whether to be irritated that he had ignored her warnings or awed by the fact that we was willing to go to such lengths to protect her mother. She anxiously watched as he surreptitiously moved around the room until he was next to the shooter, taking extra care to ensure that he wasn't spotted. The many bystanders, cowering behind whatever shelter was available, praying for their lives, also followed his progress. Emily glibly thought that this was probably the most exciting thing that had ever happened to many of them, most of them being so boring that they made watching paint dry seem like an interesting hobby.

Morgan attempted to signal his plan to the Ambassador, but he wasn't sure if the message carried. Wordlessly, he counted down from three on his fingers, while the entire room took a collective breath of anticipation.

When he reached one, time seemed to slow to a crawl. Emily could hear the blood rushing past her ears, her entire body shaking, gripping tightly at the hem of her dress; never had she wished more that Morgan could have been holding her in his strong arms, keeping her safe, calming her fears.

In that moment, several things happened simultaneously. Having understood Morgan's plan, the Ambassador pulled out of the shooter's grasp. Morgan leapt out to tackle him. He loosed a shot. Police sirens sounded just outside the building as several squad cars came screaming up.

In the ensuing chaos, no one was entirely sure what had happened. Emily, ignoring Morgan's warning, ran over to him. She felt numb when she saw the aftermath of the scene, her breath hitching in her throat, her heart clenching, tears springing to her eyes. Officers stormed in, aiming their guns at the shooter, demanding his surrender.

None of that mattered. It barely even registered. She dropped to her knees beside Morgan and pressed her hands firmly against the gaping wound in his shoulder. She didn't care that people were staring, whispering. She didn't care that she was already drenched in his blood.

Tears traced glittering tracks down her cheeks as she begged him to wake up. "Derek," she sobbed, "Derek, wake up! Please, stay with me, just hang on!"

She looked up, wondering why no one was helping her. Several policemen were marching a cuffed waiter to the squad cars, while others seemed at a loss for what to do next. "Somebody call an ambulance!" she shouted.

She turned back to the still unconscious Morgan. "Come on baby, wake up!" she plead.

Her mother knelt down at her side, placing a hand on her shoulder. "I'm so sorry..." she breathed.

Emily shrugged away from the contact. "I don't have time for this!" she snapped.

Morgan's eyes slowly fluttered open. Emily half-sobbed/half-laughed, just happy to see him awake. "Just hang on baby, everything's going to be okay..."


	24. My Wonderful Slice of Chocolate Thunder

_Chapter 24_

The team rushed into the waiting room and found Emily sitting in a corner, wearing a bloody dress and clutching a handful of tissues.

"Emily, what happened?" JJ exclaimed, "I couldn't hear you clearly over the phone."

"Derek, got shot. It's all my fault," she said through tears.

They stood there, not knowing what to say. Comforting had never really been their strong suit. Where was Garcia when you needed her? JJ and Reid went down to the cafeteria to get coffee for everyone, Hotch went to inform Strauss about the current situation, while Rossi sat with Emily, wishing there was something he could say.

The white walls of the hospital did little to encourage her. There was hardly any colour anywhere, except for the dark blue tiles every couple feet on the floor. She had never liked hospitals, they were cold and unwelcoming.

"It wasn't your fault," Rossi said softly. This only made her cry harder, as she stared at the ceiling, trying to hold herself together.

"Yes, it was," she replied, "He said we could leave earlier but no, I had to stay and piss off my mother. None of this would have happened if I listened to him."

"You know, he could never say 'no' to you," Rossi mused, "He would have jumped off a cliff if you asked him to."

"How is that supposed to make me feel better?"

Before Rossi could reply, Garcia dashed into the waiting room towards Emily. "I'm so sorry, honey, I was stuck in traffic. How is he?"

"We don't know," Emily sniffed, "They wouldn't tell us anything."

"Don't worry angel," she gave Emily a smile, "I'm sure my wonderful slice of chocolate thunder will pull through."

She laughed lightly through her tears, "I'm not sure if I'm okay with you calling my boyfriend 'your wonderful slice of chocolate thunder'."

******

Ambassador Prentiss wasn't usually a person who doubted herself, but now she found herself feeling awful for the way she had treated Emily's boyfriend, for the things she had said. Some of which he had heard, all of which she was sure Emily had relayed. And yet, he had taken a bullet for her.

There were people she was nice to who wouldn't do that for her...

That spoke volumes about the type of person Derek Morgan was. And he certainly didn't deserve to be treated the way he had.

Wracked with an overwhelming sense of remorse, she knew she was going to have to do something she rarely did: apologize. And that was going to require going to the hospital because if she tried calling, she knew Emily would likely hang up on her.

Not that she could blame her.

******

Emily had been at the hospital for what felt like an eternity. Had she actually paid attention to her watch, she would have seen that she'd been at the hospital for nearly seventy-two hours straight. Time, she supposed, was irrelevant when you were sitting by the bedside of someone you love, waiting to know that they were okay. The team had been in and out, taking turns standing watch in the room. She'd left his room sparingly; afraid to leave him alone, afraid that the minute she turned her back, she would lose him again. Garcia had had to threaten bodily harm in order to get her out of the room, drove her back home, demanding she shower and change.

"Hey," he whispered as she entered the room. She leaned over and kissed him softly. "You can do better than that," he challenged. He sighed, sensing her hesitation, "Baby, I'm not going to break."

"You better not," she replied, kissing him harder. "How do you feel?"

"Like I was shot," he shrugged.

"Yeah, that was pretty much what happened," she said, tears welling up in her eyes.

"Hey," he said stiffly, his free hand caressing her cheek. "I told you, pretty girls don't cry."

"I'm sorry," she sniffed, trying to hold back the tears, "I almost lost you. I think I'm entitled to some tears."

"Come here," he said, moving himself to make room for her on the bed. Once she was in bed and they were cuddled together, he said, "You're not losing me. I'm not going anywhere."

"You'd better not be," she retorted. They laid in each other arms in silence, only the sound of the heart rate monitor beeping quietly in the back. "I have good news and bad news for you," she said quietly.

"Give me the good news first."

"Your doctors told me you can go home in a few days."

"And the bad news?"

"You can't go home alone. If no one will take you, you would have to spend some time in a rehabilitation centre. So, Garcia has agreed to take you." He raised a brow and she continued, "If you're not comfortable with that, Hotch has agreed to take you too. I hear he makes a mean Mac-and-cheese."

"Ha ha. Very funny, Em."

She smiled softly and cuddled closer to him, "Or you could come home with me."

"Hmm," Morgan looked thoughtful for a moment then retorted playfully, "A pretty nurse that makes me pancakes or my boss that makes Mac-and-cheese... Oh, that's a tough one. I think I prefer the pretty nurse." He smiled slyly, kissing her passionately, "Maybe I'll get desserts at night..." he murmured against her lips. She giggled softly, only spurring him on further. His hands slid down her back as he trailed kisses down her neck.

"Derek," she reprimanded, gently pushing him off her, "We're in the hospital."

"We could lock the door and draw the curtains..." he raised his brows suggestively.

"No," she tapped his good arm admonishingly and laughed. "We won't be doing _anything_ until the doctors clear you for full activities."

"That could take weeks," he pouted.

"Then I guess we'll just have to wait," she said, wanting nothing more than to make love to him now. But one of them had to be rational, she reminded herself, and obviously she couldn't count on Morgan for that right now.

"How am I supposed to live with you for weeks and not do anything?"

"Consider it a lesson in self control," she smiled and kissed his nose.

He grumbled softly and sighed. Emily seemed determined to wait for the doctors to release him back to full activities before they could do anything. He couldn't help but think that was the worst thing about being shot.


	25. The Dam Broke

**Hey. Sorry for the delay. I wanted to update yesterday, but there was some problems with the site... Maybe it's just me. Anyways, here it is. Enjoy!**

_Chapter 25_

Morgan was currently standing at the side of his bed, smiling to himself as he quietly watched Emily carefully pack his folded clothes into a suitcase. They both knew that if he were the one doing the packing, he would have just thrown everything into the suitcase, rather than stack them neatly as she was doing. In his mind's eye, he imagined Emily with a pregnant belly, in nesting mode, folding their laundry; a perfect serene, domestic image. He wanted to kneel down and propose to her right then and there, but didn't. He had promised her that that question wouldn't be in their game plan for awhile yet; a promise whose upholding was proving a lot more difficult than he had imagined. He shook his head and chuckled. Who would have thought that Derek Morgan, the reputed player, would be so eager to settle down with a woman? But then again, Emily Prentiss wasn't just any other woman.

"What's so funny?" Emily asked, looking up when she heard him chuckling.

"Nothing, I just remembered something..." he shrugged. "We ready to go?"

"Almost," she smiled.

As Emily finished the last of the packing and was zipping up the suitcase, her mother entered the room. "I see you're ready to go home," she commented, at a loss for what else to say.

"Yes, we are," Emily responded drily.

"How are you feeling?" the Ambassador asked, turning to Morgan.

"Better," he replied, smiling hesitantly, "Thanks for asking."

There was an awkward silence between them, one that was not unfamiliar to Emily and her mother. Emily sighed, breaking the silence, "Why are you here, Mother?"

"I came to apologize to Mr. Morgan."

"Apologize? That's new," Emily scoffed.

"Baby, don't do this," Morgan cautioned softly, "She's your mother."

"My mother?" she asked incredulously, turning back to Elizabeth Prentiss, "What kind of mother would use her daughter as a pawn just so she could further her career? What kind of mother would attempt to set up her daughter when she is already in a relationship with an amazing man?" The last sentence was glacial in its delivery, "What kind of mother are you?" She paused to take a breath, shaking with anger, her nails digging furrows into the skin of her palms. "You shouldn't just apologize, you should thank him! If it weren't for him, you'd be the one lying in the hospital!"

It was clear that the Ambassador was making an enormous effort to be civil, but this seemed to be foreign territory to her, so it came off as forced and ingenuine. "Emily, you have every right to be angry..."

Emily cut her off, "Oh, really? Well, I'm glad I have your permission."

"But please, just hear me out."

Morgan reached out to grab hold of Emily's hand, pulling her to sit down on the edge of the bed with him. He ran his thumb soothingly across her knuckles, hoping to calm her a little. While he didn't understand her pain, his relationship with his mother always having been the farthest thing from strained, he wanted Emily to at least be able to make peace with her mother. But, if it came down to it, he vowed that he would hate the Ambassador too, just to support the woman he loved.

Though, he supposed that whether Emily and her mother could patch things up or not, it didn't really matter to him. The way he saw it, either way he stood to win; if the Ambassador didn't like him, it would only make Emily like him more, purely in the interest of rebellion, while if she decided she did like him, Emily would probably marry him on the spot, being so astonished that she had managed to do something right for once.

He struggled not to smile at that thought, not wanting anyone to get the wrong idea. Turning to Elizabeth, he gave a slight nod, indicating that she should continue. She gave him a small smile of gratitude; if it weren't for him mediating, this conversation would likely have been over before it began.

"I know, it was terribly insensitive of me to try to interfere when you are in a committed relationship and I'm sorry. I certainly didn't mean to cause a rift between the two of you."

Immediately, he sensed Emily starting to get angry again. "That's exactly what you were trying to do! Just like every other important function you invite me too; it's all about your self-serving attempts to change the way I tarnish your image!" He tightened his grip on her hand, giving her a pleading look.

"Okay, I'll admit that originally that may have been my plan, but if I had known how happy you were together, I would never have tried anything of the sort..." Emily gave a disbelieving scoff, rolling her eyes. "I certainly never thought that anyone would get hurt," Elizabeth continued on unfazed; she was used to this kind of reaction from her daughter. "Please believe that that was the last thing I wanted."

Emily was getting tired of the pleading, certain that she was only saying what she knew to be social construct in such a situation, and that she didn't actually mean a word of it. "What do you want from us, Mother?"

"I'd like your forgiveness," she said honestly, adding, "But I don't expect it."

Emily wasn't sure if that was intended as a jab or if it had wrongly come off as one. Either way, she didn't have to consider her answer. "Well, I don't forgive you," she said acidly, "I could have lost the best thing that ever happened to me because of you." She stared her down for several seconds, the fiery anger burning in her eyes a sharp contrast to her icy tone. At length, she added, "But I'm not the one you should be begging to forgive you, I'm not the one who got shot protecting you..." With that, she stormed from the room, clearly on the verge of tears.

There was an extended awkward silence after she left, neither Elizabeth nor Morgan entirely sure on how to proceed. It was Morgan that eventually broke the silence, quietly saying, "I forgive you."

"Why? If anyone in the world deserves to hate me, it's you..."

"What happened wasn't your fault," he answered simply.

"Emily doesn't seem to think so..."

"She'll come around, just give her time to get over the shock."

Again there was silence, during which she seemed to take in the sight of his injured shoulder, thick with layered bandages, held up in a sling. "Why did you do it?"

"What?"

"I was horrible to you, but you still took a bullet for me... You could have died. Why would you do that?"

"It's not up to me to decide who should and shouldn't get hurt," he said matter-of-factly, "I can't let past indiscretions stand in the way of second chances... We've got a chance to make things right, to start over." He looked her in the eyes, completely serious, hoping that she was taking his words to heart. "No matter how it might seem, I know Emily doesn't want to lose you. And I want our children to have a relationship with both of their grandmothers."

Then, he did something bold, feeling like the situation necessitated it. He stood and crossed the few feet between them, pulling her into a hug with his one good arm.

She smiled gratefully when he released her. "I'm sorry," she said, "I was wrong about you... Emily's lucky to have you."

He smiled and shook his head. "No, she's not the lucky one..."

******

There was something in the distance between the two of them that night, that lead Morgan to feel that something was wrong, but he couldn't quite put his finger on what it was. Her responses to him were curt and clipped, when he reached out to grasp her hand, for any contact, she'd pull away. He didn't want to pressure her to talk about it, but he was worried that it might have something to do with their run in with her mother. Quietly, he asked, "Baby, what's wrong?"

"Why does it always have to be you?"

"What?"

It had been bugging her since they had gotten to the hospital, since she had had seemingly endless hours waiting by his side for him to wake up, endless hours in which she had been stewing in her own thoughts. She had been intending to chew him out once he regained consciousness, but just hadn't had the heart to be angry with him until she was sure that he was going to be okay. "Why do you always have to be the hero?"

"I don't always have to be the hero..."

"Yes, you do. You're always the one kicking down doors, not knowing what's on the other side; you're always the one tackling unsubs... You chased a guy along the top of a moving train for God's sake! And that's the job, I understand that, I've been in my share of danger too... But then you feel the need to tackle an agitated, armed hostage taker to save someone who doesn't even like you! What are you trying to prove?"

That, he hadn't been expecting. She knew that that was who he was and it had never been an issue before; he had to wonder if there wasn't something larger at play. "Em, I'm sorry if I scared you, but we both know that that's just who I am..."

Tears had started to sparkle in her eyes when she turned to look at him. "What happens later? What happens when we get married, when we have kids? Are you still going to feel the need to prove something? Because next time you might not be so lucky... Next time it might not just be a bullet, next time it might not just be your shoulder, next time it might not be the hospital where you end up... What then? How am I supposed to raise our kids on my own? How do I explain why Daddy won't be coming home? How am I supposed to go on without you?" She restlessly ran a hand through her hair, then used the heel of her hand to brush the tears from her face.

"Sweetheart," he said gently, "I think you're getting a little ahead of yourself..."

He moved to pull her into his arms, but she quickly took a step back and held up a hand to stop him. "Please, just don't..." Brushing away another tear, she added, "I made up the bed in the guest room for you." And then she left him alone in the kitchen; he could hear her gentle sobs until the bedroom door snapped shut behind her.

* * *

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	26. The Sauce is Burning

_Chapter 26_

Emily had been lying awake for hours, tossing and turning, the day's events running through her mind. Had she been too hard on Morgan? He had saved her mother, yet she had snapped at him for doing just that. What she couldn't understand was why he had saved her mother when she had been so mean to him. She knew he wasn't trying to be a hero, he never wanted to be a hero. So then, what was the reason?

While Emily was upstairs brooding, Morgan was downstairs doing the same thing. He didn't even try to get some sleep, knowing that he wouldn't be able to sleep without Emily by his side. He knew it was his fault for worrying her to no end with his little stunt, but he was sure he had done the right thing. Would she feel better if the one lying the hospital was her mother?

If he hadn't saved his future mother-in-law, would she blame him for doing nothing? He lifted his head when he heard footsteps.

"Hey," she said quietly, sitting down beside him.

He turned off the TV, "Hey, did I wake you?"

"No, I just can't sleep."

They sat in silence for a while. "I wanted our kids to have both their grandmothers," he said abruptly when the silence became too much.

"What?"

"I saved your mother because I wanted our kids to have both their grandmothers," he explained, "They're not going to have their granddads to spoil them, I thought, at least they would have their grandmothers."

"Derek..."

"I'm sorry if I scared you. I never meant for you feel that way, Em," he sighed, "I know you and your mother don't have the best relationship, but would you feel better if she was the one who had been injured?"

"I guess not..." she replied. "I'm sorry, I didn't mean to snap at you, but I was scared. I don't want to lose you. I've just never felt this way about anyone before..."

"I know, me neither," he smiled as he held her hand. "I wasn't scared of getting shot. I wasn't even scared of dying. I was scared of leaving you alone. Baby, I can't promise you that I'll never get hurt again, because with our jobs, you never really know. But I can promise you I'll be extra careful and I'll think twice before jumping on another speeding train."

"But you _can't_ promise me that will never happen again..." she said softly; he was right, danger was part of their jobs.

"Okay..." He sighed heavily and turned to her with a serious face. "Would it make you feel better if I resigned from the BAU?"

"What?" she asked, stunned, "You can't do that! You love your job."

"I love you more. And if that's what it's going to take for you to be happy, I'd do it in a heart beat."

"But..." she stammered, at a loss for words, "I... You didn't even have to think about that..."

"Of course not. You're absolutely right, I can't put myself in danger when I have a family depending on me. There's nothing in the world that is worth not being able to see my children grow up, not being able to spend every day I've got with the woman I love. My job doesn't mean nearly that much."

For the second time in a few short hours, her eyes glistened with tears. She shook her head, "I still can't let you do that..."

He smiled and kissed her forehead. "Well, guess what, you don't have a choice. The second I find out you're pregnant, I'm handing in my resignation. I've got several more family-friendly job offers waiting in Chicago. And the perfect house that only needs a little bit of fixing..."

"I don't deserve you..." she murmured against his shoulder, wrapped tightly in his arms.

"Don't say that," he whispered into her hair, "I'm the lucky one here."

******

They had decided that, if children were going to be in their future, it would be smart to learn how to cook now. But there was no way they were going to be able to accomplish that task without professional help, so they had enrolled in a cooking class. And Emily, being the perfectionist that she was, was determined to get in as much practice as possible.

So, they were currently in the midst of preparing lasagne to hone their pasta cooking skills. A more successful venture than some of their past attempts, but still not quite perfect. They had severely over-estimated the amount of pasta they would need, so they had gone ahead and made several extra lasagnes, which the team would be receiving as 'gifts'.

"Here, taste this," Emily prompted, holding out the spoon she had been using to stir the sauce.

He nodded, after considering; the spices had been an improvement. "It's better."

He returned to lining the casserole dishes with the noodles and there was silence for several minutes, other than the radio playing in the background. He was startled when Emily suddenly spoke up, "I've been thinking..." She trailed off, hesitantly, and he wondered if she was going to finish the statement or if she had decided not to say it. She took a deep breath and continued, "What if we eloped..."

He almost choked on the sip of water he had just taken. "What?" He was more than a little shocked; she had been the one insisting they hold off on getting married and yet, she was the one to suddenly bring it up, out of the blue.

"It's just... When you got shot, it made me think... We never really know when something terrible is going to happen and..." she searched for the right words, "I just don't want to have any regrets if something should happen. I don't want to leave anything unsaid. I don't want either of us to die, without you knowing how I really feel about you. And, I know I said I wanted to wait, but... I want to marry you."

She didn't think she had ever seen him so happy, she wouldn't have thought the smile on his face to be humanly possible. He immediately dug in his pockets, pulling out the ring several seconds later.

"You were carrying it around with you again?" she asked, surprised.

"Just in case..." He took a deep breath and got down on one knee.

"Derek," she sighed, "You don't have to do this..."

"Yes, I do," he argued, "I'm going to do this right." She smiled, secretly pleased at his determination to have this be the perfect grandiose romantic gesture. "Emily Prentiss, you're the best thing that's happened to me. The best thing that will _ever _happen to me. And there's nothing in the world that would make me happier than to be able to spend the rest of my life proving that to you. Will you marry me?"

Her words failed her in that moment, overwhelmed by the happiness and love coursing through her veins. All she could do was nod, brushing away her happy tears at the same time.

He slipped the ring onto her finger and pulled her into his arms, kissing her passionately. When he pulled back, she was expecting him to say, _'I love you.' _Instead, he said, "The sauce is burning..."


	27. T'was the Night before Christmas

**Sadly, this is the last chapter... We had a lot of fun writing it and we're really sad that it's over. We hope that you enjoyed reading it just as much as we enjoyed writing it. And we'd like to thank everyone who took the time to read and review. Thanks again, and we hope you like the ending...  
**

_Chapter 27_

Emily glanced out the window of the kitchen to get a look at the snow falling thickly into the backyard; the very backyard where they had gotten married. They did elope... Sort of. After some discussion, they had decided that they wanted to get married quickly, but they also wanted their family and friends to be there for their wedding. So, a quickie wedding in Vegas was clearly out of the question.

Not to mention that Morgan's mom and Garcia would have skinned them alive if they were not invited to the wedding. So, they told the team about their plans, pulled some strings, and got married in Mrs. Morgan's backyard two weeks later. It wasn't a grand wedding, but it was everything Emily ever wanted.

It felt a little surreal to be looking out into the backyard where they had been married a little over a year ago, while knowing their child would be playing in that very backyard in a few short years. If, two years ago, someone told her that she would be married, pregnant, and making cookies for Christmas right now, she would have told them it would take a miracle for that to happen.

Especially the baking cookies part. But here she was, making cookies, and she couldn't be happier. Well, she could, if someone would stop eating the cookie dough.

"Hey!" Morgan cried, when Emily smacked his hand away from the bowl of cookie dough, "You have to stop hitting your husband."

"You're going to spoil your appetite for dinner!" she scolded, "I worked really hard making it... Do you know how hard it is to cook a turkey?"

"Besides," his mother added, "If you aren't good, Santa's going to leave coal in your stocking..."

"Wouldn't be the first time," he shrugged.

"Don't say that," Emily reprimanded, "You're setting a bad example for your daughter!"

He put on his best apologetic face and leaned down, tenderly rubbing her swollen belly. "I'm sorry, Sweetheart, don't listen to what your Daddy says, I'm just kidding."

"I hope my niece is less like you and more like Emily," Sarah commented.

"What's wrong with her being more like me?"

"What's wrong?" Desiree asked incredulously, "You even have to ask... You're a glutton, you're stubborn – "

"Hey," Morgan cut her off, "You can't diss me in front of my daughter." He then leaned down again and whispered, "Don't listen to your aunts. Daddy was always a good boy."

"Alright, Daddy," Emily smiled, "Can I get back to my cookies now?"

"Sure," he kissed her lightly, "When you're done, can you not wash the bowl? I want the leftover cookie dough..."

"Okay," she smiled at his antics. "Can you help set the table? I think the turkey is almost ready and boy, the little one is really hungry," she added, rubbing her ever growing baby bump. _'Only two more weeks to go,'_ she reminded herself, ignoring the small uncomfortable pain in her back.

******

Emily winced as she felt the baby continue to kick persistently, as she had been doing for the majority of the night. "Baby, are you okay?" Morgan asked as he saw her frown.

"Yeah," she gave him a small smile, "She's just kicking... A lot."

Mrs. Morgan laughed, "Just like her father. When I pregnant with Derek, it felt like he had soccer matches in my belly all day. I thought he was going to be a hyper-active boy."

Morgan sighed, it was becoming very clear that he was never going to be able to keep embarrassing stories about him away from his daughter, like he had hoped. He leaned down, gently rubbing the baby bump and said, "Hey sweetie, it's Daddy. Now, you better stay still and let Mama have her dinner or there will be no Christmas cookies for dessert..."

"Huh, it actually worked," Emily smiled as she felt the kicking subside.

"She's just like her father..." Sarah repeated.

******

Before they went to bed that night, Morgan insisted on starting their first Christmas tradition. Sitting by the fireplace, he produced a copy of _'The Night Before Christmas'_, one that was clearly fairly old; she assumed that it was the very same book that had been read to him when he was young.

Resting a hand over the baby, he smiled brightly. "T'was the night before Christmas and all through the house, not a creature was stirring, not even a mouse. The stockings were hung by the chimney with care in the hopes that Saint Nicholas soon would be there."

If possible, his grin became even wider as he felt the baby kicking. "I think she's excited for Santa to come," Emily said, bringing her hand up to rest over top of his.

"She's her Daddy's girl," Morgan said softly. "The children were nestled all snug in their beds while visions of sugar plums danced in their heads. And Ma in her kerchief and I in my cap had just settled our brains for a long winter's nap."

Suddenly, Emily's grip on his hand tightened. "Do you think you can finish the story in the car?"

"Why?" he asked, worry edging onto his voice.

"We need to get to the hospital... I don't think she wants to wait for Christmas morning..."

He gave her a quick kiss before helping her stand up. "The best Christmas present I could have ever asked for."

* * *

**THE END.**


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